


Deep and Deeper

by Yourlocalcookiemonster



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Abusive Erwin, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Bottom Eren, Depression, F/F, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Marking, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Merfolk and Mer Communities, Minor Erwin Smith/Eren Yeager, Panic Attacks, Pregnancy, Protective Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Scent Marking, Smut, Titan-Haired Eren Yeager, Top Levi, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-15
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2019-06-27 18:01:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 38
Words: 141,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15690537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yourlocalcookiemonster/pseuds/Yourlocalcookiemonster
Summary: About a year ago, merfolk who had dwindled away from the safe community hidden under the ocean behind the cliff towards the shores had vanished without a trace. At first, they all had assumed that the mers were simply lost or were preoccupied with their amours. But after 200 troopers had been sent to investigate and none had returned, the merfolk community's strongest warrior Levi decides to take matters into his own hands and bring down this 'monster' haunting the merfolk.A lone mermaid who prefers to live away from the rest of the community, Eren is adventurous and curious about the world around him, not to mention stunningly gorgeous and finds himself relentlessly pursued by mermen who are determined to make him their mate. But when Eren and Levi cross paths, they must work together to hunt this 'monster' down and Levi realizes everything is not what it seems as he starts unraveling Eren's mysterious and dark past as they go deep and deeper into the cruel and twisting currents of the waters.





	1. The lone mer

Hidden from the rest of the world, it was nothing more than a series of jagged rocks carved into the cliff face, its entrance guarded by stones so sharp they could peel off a shark’s scales without effort. That wasn’t to say it was completely impenetrable though. With the proper speed and skill, getting through was almost easy.

Inside, the walls were smooth and glistening for during high tides, the water rushed in and flooded the entrance chamber. It was slippery as well and had it not been for his razor talons, he would have been easily carried away by the current. There was no telling which face of hers nature would display next.

The cave had a small canal-like structure as well, and it suited him; he swam along its length, going deep and deeper into the cliff till the path finally curved and he propelled himself forwards, maneuvering behind more rocks until a faint glow stopped him.

Breath bated, from here he moved slowly. Fins pushing the liquid that was the night sky, scaly appendage twisting and turning, he kept going until his webbed hands found solid land. It was a tiny island, made of unevenly cut rocks with blunt edges.

 The surrounding walls were the source of the ethereal glow. It was his proud discovery and a secret that was guarded jealously. The walls bore crystals of every size, shape, and color, casting their dim yet luminous glow all around the blacks of the cave; the ceiling had a bunch of the crystals growing out of it, purple, indigo, pink and blue, and their light danced on the walls and his pale skin. The water sloshed lazily against his tail and he breathed in the fresh air. It was soothingly cool on his gills and the sensitive glands against his neck. The cave smelled like the sea and rain; his scent.

This was a significant place. He always came here because it felt good to be alone, away from his duties and responsibilities, his roles and the folk. Here, he could cast away his mask and just be himself for a while. Alone.

But not just that. He had another reason, another special reason that made his heart beat wildly in his chest; he hadn’t mated yet, and he wanted to bring his future partner here, to share his secret with another heart. He had never thought about what his mate would look like or what type of personality they’d have... he just knew that so far every mer that had attempted to court him had been turned down because none of them had felt... right... to him. None of them spoke out to him. His body and heart never felt attracted and he had never experienced lust for another mermaid. Even when he was in a rut.

Among his companions, he was the only one who hadn’t found his mate, and he had been courted several times; many mers had attempted to woo him, but he had pushed them away, which all led to the same question: would he ever find a mate? Or would he have to stay in isolation for the rest of his life?

The merfolks mated for life, and didn’t choose other partners even if they’re significant other died; such situations were really hard on the mermaids whose hearts were too soft and gentle compared to their counterparts, the mermen who were aggressive and usually unfeeling.

He had vowed to never be such a merman. If he got a mate, he would spoil them, dote on them and would never let them leave his arms. He would protect them and go to the depths of the ocean for their sake if he had to. He’d make them feel loved and make sure that there wouldn’t be a single cause to leave a frown on their face. It was a silent vow he had taken for his mother. He wouldn't let his mate suffer like how she had.

If he found someone that is.

Would he ever?

More importantly, would they accept him?

* * *

“There you are! I was beginning to think that you were lost!”

“Hanji, leave me alone,”

“Where were you? In that cave again?”

Levi stopped and furiously grabbed the brunette by her pointed ear and twisted it. She yelped in surprise.

“Have you been following me?” he hissed venomously.

“Ow ow ow- well, someone had to. I’ve never been in there before though; what in the seven seas do you there?”

Levi steadied himself with deep breaths. She hadn’t been inside; that was good. That place was meant only for him and his mate.

“If you so much as even peep inside, I’ll rip your tail apart and beat you with it,” He growled.

“Understood, Your Grumpiness,” she grinned. Levi glared at her for a while.

“Leave me alone,” He pushed her aside and swam away, cursing under his breath.

The waters were empty, save for schools of fishes here and there. He didn’t pay much attention to them; he wasn’t hungry and was in a hurry to get back to his cave. And besides, mermen didn’t usually venture out this far from their factions unless they were looking for mates or potential threats.

 “Soooo… have you found one yet?” she chirped excitedly behind him.

“Look at my face and tell me that I have,”

“Okay, that scowl plus your tone suggests that you’re irritated, which means you haven’t gotten yourself your special someone,”

Levi sighed. “What should I do to shut your mouth?”

“Nothing. It’s impossible!” 

Through the whole journey, Hanji didn’t shut her mouth for a second, ranting about artifacts belonging to the other world, a topic that Levi found as interesting as slugs. They both had been brought up together in the same faction and she was the only one who wasn’t downright terrified of him. Grateful as he was for her company, sometimes he wanted to knock her teeth out.

They stopped in front of another huge cliff, which had a diagonal slash in the center and more jagged rocks concealing its entrance. Avoiding them, the two mers carefully circled around the rocks and swam into the gash. The passage was clad with numerous curtains of seaweed. Pushing them away, they finally emerged on the other side.

This face of the cliff was carved with millions of little hole-like structures which was where the mers lived. There were many more cliffs here and there, some caves and huge rocks; each and every one of them had gashes or polygonal structures and mers who had found their mates usually brought them here to elope with them. Fishes, tortoises, eels and many more marine life ambled past mers about their duties and on some of the rocks, there were tiny crystals that shone, though not as brilliantly as the ones in that cave.

The mer community was divided into three main sectors; the most powerful and highest sector was that of the troopers, who were mostly in charge of protecting the merfolks. The troopers consisted of only mermen, the dominating kin: strong and able, with deadly speed and accuracy, they all had claws that were lethal enough to penetrate a mer’s skin with just a simple touch. Their bodies were well-built and muscular, fins with sharp ridges extending out of the sides of their arms and back in a receding style. Their teeth could crush stones into pieces.

Levi was a part of this particular sector. One glance at his features would be enough for even the little mers to know who he was. The troopers were well-respected and admired, but feared as well. Mermaids tended to avoid troopers for they appeared harsh and ruthless. However, it wasn't uncommon to find troopers with mates; few mermaids opted for courting a trooper though. Then there were the occasional rebels who dared to venture out of their comfort zone and court them. And Levi had been subject to their attempts one too many times.

The second sector consisted of the sitters; the sitters were wise and old mers, who looked after the younger mers and taught them all the skills essential for a mer to live its life. They also took orphaned mers under their wings and were like secondary homes. The sitters also had another important role: they were the ones who aided the mermaid when their water broke and nursed the little pups until the mother had recovered its strength. Young mermaids, fresh from maturing also joined the sitters where they learned the basic skills necessary for them to carry out their duties.

The last sector, though definitely not the least important, was that of the scroungers which included both the dominating (the mermen) and the submissive (the mermaids) kin. They were also called the hunters and as their titles suggested, they were responsible for foraging and hunting food for the mer community. They were similar in build to the troopers, but were considerably smaller in size than and not as ferocious as them. They were the mers that were most sought after when it came to mates. Troopers were the best guarantee of strength and protection, while the hunters made for softer and gentler mates.

It was a simple system really; there were many more areas of interest and other sectors that were just branches of the big three, but all of them existed harmoniously, and scuffles rarely broke out between any two sectors. The mer community had always been relatively peaceful and tolerant.

Except in the case of their one supreme ordinance; a rule which was the basis of the merfolks.

Mates.

Brutal and violent fights between mermen were not at all uncommon when it came to courting. Mostly, they would fight until one of them was severely weakened and injured or if they accepted defeat. But sometimes, it also ended in the loss of life. Whatever the result, one thing was paramount: the loser had to accept his fate and let the victor woo their desired partner, without further arguments.

Levi trod the water and swam to the farthest right of the cliff. Shooing off some fish, amidst the seaweed lay a cavity invisible at first glance, a perfect and cozy place. He went inside, the plants tickling his face.

The grotto was spacious, but not too big. It was a modest place: the chamber had a few stones shaped to provide seating, lined with moss for cushioning. Further back lay a dark hole.  
The hole was a tunnel, which led to another room, situated on a higher level where the water could not penetrate. The room had a small pond at the center and an opening which rose above the ocean, built into the cliff, providing sunlight and fresh air. At the left was a green fuzzy thing, which was actually many layers of moss piled up to make a bed, carefully surrounded by pebbles and small stones, looking more like a nest than an actual bed. But it was big and comfortable and that was what mattered to Levi.

He laid down on the nest, the green velvet swallowing him in its many folds and curled his tail. He was tired from the night’s watch and had been unsuccessful in finding someone to share his nest with again. Another day gone, and he was all alone. How long had he been looking? It seemed like ten years, but Levi knew it was more.

“LEVI!”

Oh yeah, that shitty mer never left him alone.

“What?” he growled, irritated. He wanted to sleep.

“LEVI, COME HERE!!”

Dragging himself from his comfy nest, he swam to the entrance hall, where the brunette was swishing her orange tail frantically, her brown eyes urgent.

“It has happened again!”

“What?!”

“Yeah! I just heard it from one of the troopers: Reiner had been the one to venture out this time. It’s been five days since he was last seen. There’s no sign of him,”

 _Reiner…_ he was a big, burly blonde trooper who never backed off from a challenge and was well-liked; he didn’t have a mate either, Levi recalled.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yes! What are you gonna do?”

Levi's stomach tingled in unease; what had started out as a curious and mild phenomenon had wasted no time escalating into something much more sinister.

About a year ago, mers who had dwindled away from the safe community hidden under the ocean behind the cliff towards the shores had vanished without a trace. At first, they all had assumed that the mers were simply lost or were preoccupied with their amours. Five troopers had been sent to investigate, but only one had returned. The sight of the merman still made Levi’s insides churn; he had been wounded so grotesquely and been mutilated so horribly that none of them had even recognized him initially. He had been in a state of shock and afterward hysterical, screaming about some terrifying monster that lived alone near the shores and slaughtered anything that strayed across its path. The poor mer had succumbed to his injuries a few days later.

Since then, many troopers had been sent to probe the situation and none of them had ever come back home. About 200 good mermen were still missing, dead or suffering a fate worse, Levi didn’t know.

“Levi… we’ve also received reports of corpses in that area.”

Levi’s ears perked up. “Whose?”

“Mers. They were all ripped apart though,”

Levi chewed on his lip. “How many?”

“Only two. We recognized one though," Hanji swallowed, her tail limp. Levi sighed.

"Who?" he asked tonelessly.

"...Farlan... impaled on a rock,”

A chill went through his spine; Farlan had been Levi’s best friend along with Hanji and Isabel, his mate.

“We told Isabel. She was... she was devastated…”

Rage like no other bubbled through his veins and his fists trembled at the thought of Isabel, the cheery mermaid with flaming hair and honest green eyes that Farlan had chosen for a mate. She was so _young._ Losing a mate at this early stage... and they hadn't even been mated for that long; merely a few months ago. What reason would the barbarian have for destroying these innocent mers and their families who meant it no harm?

“Levi?”

“This has been going on for a really long time. Send me out tomorrow.”

Hanji’s eyes widened. “You can’t! You’re the strongest trooper, we need you to defend the community!”

“If that monster decides to come closer to the community instead of carrying its dirty work near the shores, then it’ll be too late to stop it. Those mermen were our best troopers and the thing killed 200 of them. What’s to stay we’ll be able to stop it if it sets its target on the community?”

“But-“

“I’m going tomorrow. It’s about time this ends. The entire community is in danger and I’m not gonna risk losing any more troopers.”

“And if something happens to you?” asked the brunette with a skeptical look.

Levi grimaced. “If I’m going down, then it’ll be after I hear it scream and shed some of its blood,”


	2. Seashell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We meet Eren!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm madly in love with the idea of Eren being a mermaid.  
> Also you guys, see, Eren is like an omega in this story. So, when I refer to a character as a mermaid, it is irrespective of their gender. It means they are the submissive kind.  
> Idk man, Eren as a mermaid is *intense drooling*

He carefully set the shell aside. It was patterned with little ripples of dark and baby blue. The shell was coruscating in the sun, which was hot on his back.

_Fifty-seven…_

The water splashed against him and it cooled him off. He flicked his tail lazily in the sea, the breeze blowing away the little drops of water that clung to him. A sudden chill traveled up his spine and he shivered. He felt like there were eyes on him; but when the brunet checked around, he didn't find a trace of life.

The sand was warm and it covered his torso, the little grains tickling his skin. Raising a clawed hand, he tucked a strand of his brown hair behind his ear.

A squeak below his elbow made him look down. A furry little creature was pawing at his waist, its black orbs looking at him expectantly.

“Why, hello again.” he smiled and picked the otter up, letting it nuzzle in his arms. Otters were his favorite. He loved the way the funny little critters held hands whilst sleeping with their partners and tried to climb his back and pull his hair. They were good company. He always got along well with the otters that lived in the shallower depths of the water. Over time, they had learned to not fear him as well and would approach him for fish. Eren knew he spoiled them too much, but once they patted his arm with their furry paws and blinked their black beads, Eren  _melted_. 

He reached out for the remnants of his meal: a trout that he had caught himself and carefully peeled. Taking a chunk of flesh and mashing it with his claws, he brought it near the otter’s mouth and it immediately accepted the food, licking it off his palm and proceeding to lick his face.

“Hey, stop that,” he chuckled.

“Look at that, you’re great with kids too,” spoke a familiar deep, smoky voice behind him. Arms snaked their way around his waist and he felt the other mer’s chest hug his back. He sighed.

“What do you want now?”

“You,” the mer purred.

Eren let the otter go and he tried to break free from the bigger mer’s grip, but his arms were locked tightly about Eren’s body. Hands trailed over his chest and back and he felt teeth next to the sensitive glands near his neck. The next second, he was lying with his back pressed on the sand, facing a huge brute with blonde hair and icy blue eyes, his face devilishly handsome.

“You can’t have me.”

“Oh?” the merman cocked his head to one side. “Why’s that?”

“Because I already belong to someone,”

Erwin laughed. “And who dares steal my mate?”

“This otter over here. It has completely stolen my heart and it says it won’t give it back. So let me go,”

“Let go a prize like you? I think not,” he smirked and put his weight on Eren’s chest, lying on top of him. Eren tried to push him away, twisting and struggling to breathe. His lungs were being compressed with the amount of pressure Erwin was applying on them. If he wanted to, Erwin could easily smash his ribs.

“Is this how you’ll squirm when I’m gonna bond with you? I must say, I find it quite appealing,”

“I’m not your mate, Erwin,”

“You will be,”

Eren snorted. “You’ve been saying that for a year. I don’t want to,”

Erwin gripped him harder. “I’m disappointed in you, Eren,” He shook his head, stroking Eren’s hips with his claws and eyed him like a predator.

“Then I’m doing my job perfectly,”

Erwin’s face became harsh. “Remember your mother? You’re making a big mistake,” He threatened in a low voice.

“Is that what the other mers told your parents?” Eren mused.

Erwin flipped him over and pressed his teeth to the brunet’s fragile neck. Eren felt the area dampen under the brute’s ruthlessness and tried to fight back, but he was powerless against the giant mer. His arms were held tightly and he felt talons dig into his hips, breaking the flesh there and shrieked; in a desperate attempt to free himself, he thrashed his tail, trying to hurt the other, but Eren’s body wasn’t built for offense; he was the submissive kind among their kin who relied on their dominating mates for protection. So, his body was ten times more delicate than the mer who was molesting him.

“Oh, aren’t you a perfect little mermaid… and ripe too…”

“Erwin, get off.”

He felt a tongue next to his mouth and pursed his lips tightly to avoid giving him entrance.

“Come on Eren, open up that lovely mouth…” Erwin cooed.

In response, Eren gave a low growl and opened his mouth. The moment Erwin’s tongue darted inside, Eren bit hard, enjoying the taste of flesh and blood in his mouth in triumph. Erwin pulled back with a scream of pain and oxygen flooded Eren’s lungs; he could breathe again and he immediately scampered out of the water and onto the sand, away from the merman’s reach.

Dendrites of scarlet trickled down from the blonde’s mouth and his face was contorted with rage. He hissed and Eren laughed.

“Miss your tongue?”

Erwin dragged himself out of the water, the work being done by his powerful tail muscles, biceps, and his claws. Before Eren could move, his own tail was caught and he was pulled forwards; Erwin collapsed on top of him, taking all of Eren’s breath away and snarled. "I've been too patient with you. If you were to meet any other merman, they would've fucked you senseless by now,"

“HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!”

Erwin stopped his face inches from Eren’s. With a scowl, he turned to see who the intruder was.

It was another merman, with ash-blonde hair and narrow hazel eyes. He was also huge, with bulging biceps and a broad chest. His deer-like ears were pressed back and his brown tail and fins were extended. He radiated aggression and his scent was a mixture of carnal desires and fury, which was rough on Eren's nose; he was challenging Erwin.

Erwin looked unimpressed. He growled again.

“Leave him alone,”

Erwin gave another hiss and Reiner looked at Eren, perplexed.

“His tongue was quite delicious and I was unable to hold my appetite back. Turns out, he doesn’t like having his tongue eaten. He’s a wee bit upset,” Eren smiled.

The corners of the merman’s mouth twitched. “The name’s Reiner. I’m a trooper from the mer community. You don’t have to fear, I’ll take care of him,”

 _The Mer Community_. Eren hated those words.

As though agreeing with Eren's thoughts, Erwin thrashed his tail in warning, his gigantic form shielding Eren.

Reiner growled, flicking his tail as well. His teeth were barred and Eren saw the jagged canines, ready to tear his opponent.

With a sharp bark, Erwin pushed himself away from the brunet and dived into the water. Reiner too went under. The ripples subsided after a while and the ocean became glassy once again.

Eren sighed and turned to look for his seashell. It was buried underneath the sand and he dug it out, washing it in the water. It shimmered brightly in the sun, its blue ripples forming strangely fascinating patterns. Setting it down carefully, he then proceeded to wash.  
His collarbones were slick with Erwin's saliva. He had matured a year ago, and his body secreted pheromones in an unusual manner: they were strong, way too strong and he went into heat twice a month. Of course, passing mers were drawn irrevocably to him and Erwin had been the first.  
His heat troubled him to no end; it was due to his abnormal condition, a condition that he knew for sure if any mer were to discover would abandon him immediately. After all, his own father had left his mother because of him.  
Eren considered himself lucky that he hadn't been hunted down and killed yet. Erwin never failed to remind him of that, constantly telling the brunet that if it weren't for him, Eren would have been dead and rotting by now.

Nature had taken away his mother as well soon after, and he had been a terrified little pup, unaware of why his body was like how it was. All he knew was that a creature such as he would never be accepted into the mer community and he had fled, learning how to live and fend by himself, unused to the strange merfolks and their ways.

Not having a friend, a home, someone to comfort him and whisper that it would be alright or a peaceful night’s sleep. Nature had made sure of that.

He spent most of his time out of the water and in the cove or exploring caves and trenches, meeting new marine creatures and discovering various unusual artifacts. He had once encountered a strange creature that looked like him from the waist up, but had two appendages instead of one and walked upright. He didn’t know whether it was a friend or foe and had just watched it from afar, curious. It had tried to build something with the sand along with another tinier one. They both seemed to enjoy themselves, squealing and laughing and shoving each other until another one had called them to go back. He had learned later that those were humans and since then had been extremely interested in their habits and culture. He had yearned to go to them... in time, he had discovered more about them. 

Humans and merfolk were alike in more ways than one. They lived together in a family.

 _Family._ He wondered what those were like. They must be nice.

It wasn’t like Eren needed much for himself; just food and the ocean had a lot of fish. He had mastered hunting for the slimy little things and occasionally ate seaweed as well. For shelter, caves in the cliffs were good. There were a lot of cliffs around these waters.

That was enough for Eren. He was content with it and didn’t want more.

Except…

Having an actual home would be nice… an actual home with a…

No.

He wasn’t thinking straight.

He’d never have a home, nor have a mate for as long as he lived. Nature had seen to that.

 

Erwin’s claws had left bruises on his hips. Wincing, he washed with water, getting rid of the grains of sand. When he emerged, drenched, he noticed many more scratches over his arms.

His saliva had healing properties and mostly worked on small wounds. So, positioning himself carefully on a stone, he curled his tail about himself and ran his tongue all over the red marks, setting the skin tingling for a few seconds before sighing as the pain started to fade.

He looked around, searching for any signs of the mermen, but everything was deathly quiet. He hoped that the merman called Reiner had finished Erwin off… maybe Reiner would be nicer than Erwin and Eren might even look forward to… letting Reiner have him, just for the sake of putting up with his painful heats. But he hadn’t felt any particular attraction to the blonde.

Maybe the two would have finished each other off; that would be even better.

He heard squeaks.

Eren looked up and his face split into a wide smile. The otter had returned, with another of its kind. He flipped his tail excitedly and clumsily toppled into the water, racing up to them.

The otter blinked and squeaked, slapping Eren’s palm with its furry paws and Eren laughed. They were such adorable little things. He picked it up and the otter climbed his back, accidentally scraping its toes against his neck, and settled on his head, rubbing the underside of its belly on his hair. He felt the paw pat his eye and flicked a bit of water at the animal.

Suddenly, Eren’s face heated up as his neck dampened and his shoulders became sticky under a viscous liquid. His mind fogged with need and his tail fluttered in urgency. The air was enriched with his scent in seconds and his body felt weak and sluggish. His breath came out in pants and his arms struggled to hold his weight upon the sand. The glands had started secreting pheromones. He was having his heat again.

He needed to get out of here and go somewhere safe. Somewhere where Erwin or any other merman wouldn’t follow him.

Without any warning, a moan escaped his lips and he covered his mouth in horror; he had sounded outrageously needy and if there were any mermen nearby, he wouldn’t stand a chance of fleeing. Trying to prevent fear from clouding his brain, he crawled towards the water.

_Move. Move now._

He inhaled and dived.

A once, his body betrayed him completely; he shuddered and shook violently and whined as the little slit below his navel emblazoned on his tail opened up, begging to be filled and sealed. He gasped again as he tainted the water around him with his scent; his gut twisted painfully, preparing him for being filled by a dominating force. He saw stars in front of him and choked on the water; his gills weren't working properly - he couldn't breathe.

_Shelter. Swim. Find a cave._

Tail swishing about, eyes blurred and unable to focus, the brunet propelled himself downwards, sinking deep and deeper into the depths of the waters. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but there was only one command registered in his foggy brain: _Get away from there._

He collided with something hard; blinking his eyes in pain, he made out a blotchy shape, something that looked like a tunnel and lunged forwards. His tail made contact with solid earth and he curled down, shivering as his slit produced something whose smell was sweet; he curled up tighter, tail over his head, rolling about in pain, encasing himself in the fluid. No, he wouldn’t cry.

He had survived this long in multiple heats worse than this. He had fought and survived. He wouldn’t cry. He would _not_ cry.

Hot tears ran down his face as he gave a great sob before darkness enveloped him.

 

 

 

 


	3. Sand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our lovebirds meet.

Eren woke up, clawing at his throat and gasping. It took a few moments before he could breathe again and his chest heaved gratefully as his lungs received copious amounts of air. He didn't feel heavy anymore, but his body did ache all around his groin and his muscles were cramped painfully. Eren breathed deeply to soothe his nerves and ease the pain. Looking around, he tested his senses and sighed. His senses were also working properly; he could detect even the tiny sounds of little fish scuttling by and smell fresh, salty breeze.

 _Fish_. His stomach growled.

How long had he been asleep? It could have been _days_ ; Eren remembered that one time when he had succumbed to sleep and had been held in its mischievous cage for a week.

 It was a miracle he was still in one piece. He shuddered as he remembered how helpless he had been the day before, how utterly needy he had become and his face flushed at the memory of him moaning. His heats baffled him - sometimes they lasted for  _weeks._ Sometimes, they lasted for just a few hours. Eren didn't understand it. There was nothing to understand anyway; he was just a freak.

He wasn’t a pup anymore; how stupid could he be? He should have been near a suitable shelter; he had been reckless and had strayed farther off the rocks in search of seashells. By some marvel, he had found someplace safe. _Thank you Mother Nature, for that at least._

He examined his body: he wasn’t hurt anywhere, and his old wounds had healed, but the strong smell of his pheromones still embossed him and his tail was covered in transparent goo. He needed to wash.

Eren examined his surroundings. He was in a cavern, formed by the erosion of the cliff face by the ocean’s angry tides. It was a tiny place, just a small part of the cliff that had been chipped away.  
Huh… this place was close to the shores and it was just about enough for him. The mers rarely came this far. And if they didn’t know about it, then…

He lied down again, curling his tail about his frame to keep himself warm. Warmth was something that he had barely known, but now more than food, he needed warmth. He needed rest. His crotch still ached though, but his slit was closed, thankfully. Fretting, he went into a doleful sleep.  
When he woke up again, he regretted not having eaten before he fell asleep. There seemed to be pufferfishes floating about in his stomach and he reluctantly swam out of the cave in search of something to soothe him.

There was no seaweed nearby, but higher above, there were plenty of those little trouts that he had caught. Eren was proud of his skills when it came to catching fish; he was small and fast, so he could hide behind rocks or seaweed with dexterity. He hid behind some rocks now, and waited for a while, sharpening his claws before pouncing.

The unlucky trout happened to be an extremely fat one, and Eren carefully peeled it on the rocks, stripping it off its bones; his teeth weren’t strong enough to mash them, so he ate the flesh instead and caught another one to satisfy him. When he was content and his stomach no longer felt like as though it was killing him from the inside, he took all the bones and deposited them in the cavern. He couldn’t litter them about in the ocean; Mother Nature wouldn’t like it and nor would he.

When he was feeling strong enough, he went out of his cavern. Maybe the sunlight could warm him for a few minutes…

Carefully scrutinizing the waters around him for any sign of a particular blonde brute, Eren thrust upwards, putting on some speed before bursting out from the surface, his lungs taking in copious amounts of fresh, salty air.

It felt _so_ _good…_

The shore was just ahead and he trod the water, ambling lazily. Once he had settled down, he looked about, his ears flapping about listening intently for any sign of mermen or Erwin. When it was clear there was no immediate threat, he set to grooming himself, trying to wash away the traces of his heat. The waves crashed over him, drenching him thoroughly and he felt alive again. The sun was high and bright, and the breeze was crisp and cool. His hair flew behind him wildly, and he fell back to lie on the warm sand. It felt good on his back as he swished his tail about in the water, flicking up water over himself and trying to catch the droplets on his tongue.

If he couldn’t ever get a home, then he was perfectly fine with living like this, lazing about with nothing to worry about, no one to shun him away and no one to bother him with their ridiculous attempts to have him for a mate. He was tired. He didn't want to become anyone's toy.  
_  
I won't let that happen to me, mum._

He curled up on the sand. The sun was not too hot; pleasantly warm and he was feeling drowsy after his meal. His senses were sharp after years of solitude and terror, for he had trained himself to wake up at even the smallest of noises, so a tiny nap wouldn’t hurt him. Probably…

* * *

“Levi. Please, please be careful out there,”

“Huh?” Levi looked up. “Since when did you start worrying about me?”

Hanji punched his arm. “Try and find someone to share your cave with while you’re at it, grumpy,”

Levi growled. “If you go in there-“

“I know how much it means to you, grumpy, so I won’t. You have my word,”

He glared at her for a while. Hanji grinned and hugged him, with Levi trying to scramble for release. “Get off me!”

“Don’t scare it off,” She whispered softly.

He sighed. No matter how unruly or wild she was, Hanji had always been one of his steadfast companions. Even if he questioned her sanity from time to time. “You’re… a good…friend… still a piece of shit though.”

Hanji chuckled and waved at him as he swam away.

He had woken up in the crack of dawn. The mer village had been silent as a grave, and like the predator he was, had swum out of his home, encountering Hanji in the way, who seemed to have woken up just to give him his daily dose of infuriation. She said that it was necessary for his mental well-being.

He put on a burst of speed and zoomed forward, his strong tail pushing the water along with his sharp fins. He zig-zagged through rocks and seaweeds, past other strange aquatic plants and eels, and disturbed a school of catfish; they all scattered away hastily in a million different directions. With two catfish firmly clutched hand, he ate one of them whole, his serrated canines crushing the bones and the fish without any effort. He used his talons to rip the other catfish in half; he could eat the rest later.

The troopers had been horrified upon discovering what he was going to do, but he had explained to all of them the same thing that he had had to Hanji. She had been a real help too, and they had finally convinced to let him go alone to hunt for the monster, though reluctantly so.

He swam upwards and his head broke through the surface; there was nothing but miles of blue around him in every direction. The sun was bright, but there were clouds as well. Good.

Levi swam faster, sometimes leaping out of the water in an arc as a means to keep him preoccupied instead of just swimming in a boring straight line. He came across a few dolphins who tittered to him. He tittered back; dolphins and merfolks were familiar with each other and could even understand each other to a certain degree. He didn’t stay long though, swimming ahead, eyes alert and fins extended.

_What if he found someone today?_

_Someone who was made for him?_

He shook his head. Focus. He had to find those corpses and discover who or what had killed them and why it had killed them. Most importantly, if possible, he had to eliminate it.

Something hit his hand and he wheeled around, eyes alert should it be some nasty foe like a jellyfish, but there was nothing around him. He was alone.

* * *

He had come way farther than he ever had in his life; this was the first time he had ventured so far away from the community, and there was not a single soul in sight. Where was all the marine life? The ocean should have been full of them this far away from the merfolks, but it was empty as a shell. Had something driven them off? The ocean was light and Levi was close to the surface; he could sense he was reaching the shore. There was more vegetation around him - seaweeds and beds of colorful corals that grew closer to the cove than the jagged cliffs that were Levi's home.  
  
His eyes scanned the area and caught sight of fins; a shoal, feeding at one of the coral beds. They were snappers, their reddish-orange scales perfectly camouflaging them in the red coral bed. Almost perfectly; Levi could see them as clear as day with his unnaturally sharp instincts. They made a lot of unnecessary scraping noise that was relayed quickly by his triangular ears. He shifted, looking for other signs of life and spotted a turtle below, dozing on a rock. So he wasn't alone; maybe all of them were dozing off. The ocean smelled quite exquisite today... he found his head nodding in agreement and eyelids threatening to droop, but a glitter next to the dozing turtle caught Levi's attention at once.

Levi swam down towards the rock, waking the creature in the process. The turtle acknowledged him with a lazy blink of its eye - merfolk didn't hunt turtles, and so they knew that these creatures weren't predators. It returned to its slumber, leaving Levi free to grab the shiny object; he had an affinity to anything that glittered, as most mers did, and examined the object carefully.

It was a seashell.

_How did it come here?_

_Did it belong to someone?_

His heart thumped wildly and he tried to steady himself. There was nothing to worry about, it was just a little shell.

He studied the seashell, trying to not scrape it with his claws. It was colored a deep shade of blue, with little ripples of lighter blue crisscrossing everywhere and forming strange patterns on it. The shell shone when Levi shifted it slightly, owing to the sun's reflection. It dazzled and Levi approved of the shiny trinket. He wanted to go back to his cave at once and deposit it in his moss nest.

He sniffed at it.

The shell smelled _heavenly_. Its fragrance overwhelmed Levi, who suddenly felt dizzy. It smelled like fresh earth - like the mud after the first spell of rain.... and valley lilies that he had encountered when he had first left the ocean and swum away to a distant place in search of a mate. He sniffed it again; the more he did, the foggier his mind grew. He forgot himself for a moment and shed his cautiousness. The seashell was more important to him than anything in the world, and he had the insane urge to kill anyone who tried to take it away from him. It was  _his._  

The scent did not belong to the shell. No shell had an odor like that. Levi’s nostrils flared until he recognized why the scent was so familiar. It belonged to _his_ kind. But it was so sweet...

A _mermaid…_

His heart tried to break free from its cage and for a second, he thought his chest would burst open; there was a mermaid nearby, and it smelled like _this._ His primal instincts urged him to find it and claim it as his before someone else did; the scent was heavy, and it was beseeching him to find its owner.

_Hey, idiot. You’re here to find out why your friends died remember?_

_But there’s a mermaid nearby that’s calling out for me._

_No, it’s calling out for anyone to just fuck it. It’s probably in heat. Leave it alone._

_But it smells_ delicious…

_So are fish. You have enough to worry about without some slut calling out for a good fuck. Move. Farlan died because of it._

That was enough to bring Levi back to his senses; he shook his head and swam ahead, but didn’t throw the shell away. He felt a strange connection to the blue shell and gripped it tightly. He swam faster, tail beating with furiously to propel him. He broke the surface again and saw a field of gold: the _shore._

He had never seen the shore properly before and observed it curiously; it was flaxen, with the waves washing over it lazily and a few palms here and there, some brushes and some stones, though not quite as sharp as the ones near the cliffs which were the entrance to the community. He proceeded to scan the area for threats when his eyes fell on a strange figure lying on the sand. His eyes narrowed. It was moving.

To be specific, the upper part of the creature was still, but its lower half created ripples in the water; Levi saw scales decorating the lower half: A mer.

Was it hurt? Had the monster got to it?

Levi swam forwards cautiously, ears alert and flicking rapidly to detect even the tiniest hint of disturbances as he paddled towards the shore. As he got closer and closer, he recognized the figure. With the way its body was built, it was the passive kin. A mermaid.

Levi felt a stab of pity at the creature. Mermaids were gentle and shy little things, who rarely meant any harm to any creature; what kind of horrible beast would try to attack a mermaid? He reached the shore and moved closer to the mermaid, carefully avoiding its swishing tail.

The clouds had vanished and the sun was bright in the sky; the mermaid’s skin glowed golden, basking in the sun’s rays, and looked smooth. Its body was built beautifully, with deep curves at its slender waist and wide, soft hips. It was lean and a bit muscled, like a scrounger, with small, coarse grains of sand stuck on the chest and stomach. Levi watched it breathe, entranced by the way its chest rose and fell.  
The mermaid lacked the sharp fins and claws Levi had, so its arms were smooth; absent-mindedly, Levi traced them, careful to avoid using his claws. The mermaid’s locks were the color of rich, fertile soil and obscured his face, swaying gently in the breeze.

It was unhurt; was it sleeping? Levi frowned. This place was way too dangerous for a mermaid to be out all alone.

A particularly strong breeze pushed the brown tendrils away from the mer’s face and Levi inhaled sharply.

The mermaid was _beautiful._ Levi leaned closer to sniff its scent, happily surprised to find it to be the same as the one around the shell and he clutched the little object closer, afraid to let go. His nose touched soft golden cheeks and he inhaled deeply. Levi felt the plump lips, and his blood boiled: this mermaid was practically _begging_ to be kissed. As though some invisible force was acting on him, he bent forward, his face inches from the brunet’s. His chest and stomach lightly brushed against the sleeping mer’s, and he felt the sand grains itch against his skin.

The mer shifted, turning its head and Levi felt his inner beast roar; their lips were connected and Levi pressed on, taking in the lush flesh against his own. He wanted to kiss it on and on, forever, never let go.  
He wanted to _bite_ him. Bite him on every inch of his skin, and cover him with red. His inner beast agreed, scratching his chest in desperation to start claiming the mer’s body.

He felt the lips part under him and a gasp escaped from them. The sound was enough for Levi to come crashing down to earth and he broke off, edging backward in alarm and senses on high alert.

The mer looked at him in surprise, his face strangely dazed as he touched his lips. Levi was attracted to objects that glittered, so it was no surprise that his attention was solely focused on the mer's eyes. He could feel himself almost drowning in those churning ocean orbs. He had lived in the ocean all his life, and yet now the ocean's splendor dulled considerably against this mermaid's eyes.

“…Uh… Can I help you?” he asked nervously.

“Oh, I…um… does this belong to you?” Levi held out the shell, his face heating up. Damn it, how did he lose control of his instincts like that? If there was one thing that was Levi’s pride and joy, it was his ability to retain his gut feelings and primal urges, and never lose control over his body, the way other mers did. Now he felt deflated.

The mer brightened up. “Yeah, that’s mine! I was looking for it… thank you!” He smiled as he took the shell from Levi, who didn’t let it go.

The mer’s smile faltered a little. “Um… thank you?”

“Yeah…”

He tugged it firmly from Levi’s hands, who gave it up reluctantly.

“What are you doing this far from the community?”

“I could ask you the same,”

“I was just hunting for seashells,”

“In the middle of nowhere?” Levi raised his eyebrow. “You do realize that this is a dangerous area to be in… it’s teeming with humans and nature knows what.”

“I’m not a damsel in distress,” he pouted. “I know how to take care of myself.”

“Yeah… by sleeping undefended in an unfamiliar territory.”

“It was just a nap.”

"And I managed to sneak up on you... so you're definitely an expert on taking care of yourself,”

The brunet stuck his tongue out. “Who are you? My mom?”

“No... but seeing as how you’re all alone in this place, I can only assume you don’t have one," Levi commented curtly. "I suggest you to take naps in a safer place if you don’t want to end up like your mother,”

At his words, the brunet growled menacingly and swished his tail in agitation. Levi scolded himself for having no filter, but his eyes eagerly followed the movement: the tail was a dark shade of green near his crotch, but slowly faded out to a stunning blue at the bottom, his fins turquoise, with golden ripples. He was bright and colorful, the signs of being in heat. So _that_ was why the ocean smelled so good today...  
The mermaid watched him apprehensively, his claws curved into the sand. There wasn't much he could do to hurt Levi, but he decided to keep his distance anyways; he had already half molested him in his sleep. 

Maybe... a hopeful voice supplied in his head, maybe this mermaid would be interested in sharing his cave? He already smelled so divine... no other scent had evoked such strong feelings from Levi before and his inner beast agreed, ordering him to start courting this mermaid.

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

He hesitated for a second, eyes scanning Levi from head to navel before answering.

“Eren.”

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Merman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's point of view on meeting Levi.

****What was that smell? It was _so good…_ Eren purred in contentment. It was the wind after a thunderstorm, the freshness of the salty breeze. He inhaled, bathing in the scent. He didn't want it to go; it smelled heavenly, better than any other mer or flower Eren had encountered.

What was that thing? It was icy cold against his blazing skin, like a steely kiss, except it was welcoming. He shifted and whined so that it could move closer. He felt something run across his chest, and moments later, the thing crept closer. It touched his face and brushed over his stomach. It was hard but soft at the same time; Eren couldn't describe it, his head clouded with the aroma of rain and salt. He could smell it clearly now and it was strong; this thing had a wonderful fragrance around it and was looming over his body. It was wet but refreshing... and something else too...

_Protected. He felt protected._

_Like as though it was a familiar friend…_ he didn't feel scared at all. This creature wouldn't hurt him; its scent told him so. It _belonged_ to him.

He could _taste_ it, he suddenly registered and pressed his mouth to the creature, wanting to taste more. It had a citrusy flavor to it and Eren's tongue tingled pleasantly. He felt it lick him. His eyes fluttered open, and they adjusted to the sight of a creature nuzzling his face. It looked like a mer… how strange…

Realization sprang into Eren’s fuzzy brain and he gasped. It _was_ a mer.

He had slept like an idiot, alone and out in the open where he was a gullible prey to anything; Eren pulled away at once and his inner voice whined at the loss of the wonderful scent and contact. He came face to face with a mer who looked equally surprised. He prepared to dive into the water and flee, but relief flooded him as he realized it was not Erwin. He was safe, at least for now.

But for the first time in his life, Eren felt a sudden, new emotion spring up in his chest. An emotion he didn’t know he was capable of feeling, an emotion he had suppressed long ago now engulfed him, and he was vaguely aware of the aqua slapping against his tail. The saltiness of the scent gave away his identity at once - a merman; Eren's insides squeezed, but the usual hatred was nowhere to be seen. His tail waved in ecstasy and his chest inflated as his primary instincts rose to the surface, voicing its approval at the merman. He held Eren's gaze steadily and calmly, the initial shock having vanished at once. Eren wanted to sniff him again and feel the citrus on his tongue. 

He was _attracted_ to this merman.

Well, it was hard not to be. His complexion was ethereally pale, suggesting he had lived under the water his whole life and shone like ivory. His hair was black, blacker than an octopus’ ink, and drooping. The beads of water raced against his chiseled body, defined by sculpted muscles. He was bigger than Eren and lay deathly still. Eren waited, wondering if this merman would pin him down and try to mark him. He didn't move however; only held a staring contest with him. Eren's eyes stung a little and he cleared his throat.

 

“Um… Can I help you?”

The merman looked dazed for a second when he spoke, but regained his composure immediately. He held out a small object, and Eren's chest inflated with delight at his precious seashell sitting on the pal palm. He took it from him eagerly, though the merman wasn’t too enthusiastic about giving it back. Eren examined the shell wondering how the merman had come by it when he spoke.

His tone was soothing and held no feral or lustful intentions behind it. He blinked expectantly at the mermaid, awaiting for an answer. Gratitude and admiration swelled in Eren at once at how composed this merman was; he wasn't attempting to mask his scent either and Eren smelled it clearly. It didn't have a single stroke of desire or other ill objectives tainting it. He was so... calm.

The merman asked him his name.

_Should he give it?_

He hesitated for a second, before giving it out.

“Eren,” repeated the mer.

The brunet felt a strong wave of ecstasy cloud him. His name sounded so entrancing when spoken by that merman’s deep, strong voice. He wanted to make the merman say his name again and again, in that beautifully calm voice. Shaking his head of his thoughts, he glanced at the mer who was looking at him hopefully, swishing his tail.

“Oh! Um, what’s your name?”

“Levi.”

‘Levi’ felt so satisfying on his tongue. It was simple just like his name, yet intricate. An odd desire bloomed in him to protect the name, whisper it in case someone else heard it and guard it behind his lips. 

“What brought you here?” he asked Levi. Mermen never wandered this far from that... from that community. This place was dangerous and unpredictable.

“I’m a trooper. I’m here to investigate about some mers who have recently vanished. You didn’t happen to pass by one of them a few days ago, did you? Big, ripped blonde, brown tail? Someone named Reiner?”

Fear bubbled inside Eren. Those narrow slits never left him and there was a steely glint in them, and Eren couldn’t bring himself to look away. He gulped.

“No. I haven’t.” he quickly masked the guilt in his scent and tried to look confused. Levi gazed at him, sizing him up, before letting a sigh.

“Alright. Do you know anything about any mermen disappearing here? I have had reports that it’s been occurring frequently over here.”

“Nope. I haven't seen much mermen around here; it's just me and my seashells. And some otters and dolphins on occasion,”

Levi cocked his head to one side. “Oh? A mermaid all alone out here?” his lips curled faintly and he edged closer to Eren.

Eren didn’t back off, entranced by Levi’s winsome face. The closer he approached, the more Eren could make out the details on his face: those cheek bones were so sharp, Eren felt he could cut himself trying to touch them. His raven locks were slicked back and Eren could now clearly make out his eyes. Two fearsome swirling orbs of a storm stared into the turquoise pools and Eren never looked away, enraptured. Levi was now so close, he could feel the merman’s breath on his face… he smelled rain and salt again and his insides crooned, asking him to court this merman. He _wanted_ this merman. Eren tried to block his thoughts, convince himself that he was dangerous and one of those horrible mermen from the community his mum had warned him about, but his instincts pushed all the thoughts hardwired into his brain from birth aside and soaked him in covet.

His mind was too hazy, having now woken up from his heat, to defend himself or make a witty retort. He was completely undefended, left to the mercy of this cruel creature, with its razor-sharp talons and fins that could slaughter him in an instant. He didn't move as his breath caught up in his throat and he started giving out tiny puffs of air. His heart hammered wildly against his ribs as though trying to break free from their bondage. Levi’s stomach was gently brushing against Eren’s now and Eren growled in frustration that the two were not completely in contact with each other. He wanted to feel the raven’s body against his own, to trace the snowy white flesh, to hold on to it and be held in return. His chest started vibrating, and he felt himself purring furiously, face heating up.

Damn him and his heat. 

Levi pushed himself away from Eren, a small smirk playing at the corners of his lips. Perfectly kissable lips. Eren’s cheeks flushed; why was he acting like this? He should have fled by now, or scratched Levi's face; not behave like some kind of shy damsel. He took it out on his heat and his stupid hormones. 

It was happening all over again. The exact same rush of hope and desire, the familiar need to be touched and given attention - when would it stop? Hadn't he learned already? Wasn't once enough to teach him the consequences of trusting his instincts?

“What in nature’s name was that all about?” he glared at Levi, who only pushed his fringe out of his mercury eyes.

“Nothing. Just conducting a survey,” He replied in his nonchalant voice, using his tongue to lick his lower lip. Eren followed the pink muscle’s movements, wishing nothing more to throw himself on top of Levi and wipe the smirk off his face. Also, maybe to taste that tongue.

“What do you want?”

Levi’s face immediately morphed into a grave look. “A bunch of troopers have been vanishing since last year, all in this area. I was hoping you’d help me and tell me if you know anything.”

“I already told you I don’t know anything.”

“Then help me find them. You look like you know your way around here... I could use your help,"

"Why should I help you?" Eren crossed his arms. "You said you are a trooper; aren't you all supposed to be strong and powerful? Surely you don't need a little mermaid like _me_ to assist you... and you didn't even properly greet me either," 

"Properly greet you? Ok, I will," Levi crawled towards him on his arms while his tail still remained submerged on the water. His scent caked around Eren's nose, freezing him in place as the predator pressed himself to Eren. "Hello. Will you help me now?" he asked unimpressively. Eren breathed hard, eyes fixed on those stern grey orbs.

“I asked you something,” Levi whispered against his throat, as a sneaky tongue darted around his scent glands, tasting it and Eren’s euphoria heightened. Electricity tingled through his muscles and he slackened. 

"Fuck you," he hissed back.

Levi arched his brows. "Rude,"

Eren's mind raced frantically. If he accepted the merman's request, maybe, just  _maybe_ , he could be safe from Erwin. He didn't have to hate this merman; he could be his cheery self and distract him. That way no one could be harmed right? He could maybe run farther away from this place. Hating Levi would draw more suspicion on him - what reason did he have for feeling so? Levi looked so tough and unrelenting; Eren didn't stand a chance if he decided to hurt him. He didn't have to run; just play for a while.

Eren stuck his tongue out. "Ok fine. In return, you're gonna hunt for fish,"

Levi smiled and Eren's stomach responded with a backflip. "Deal,"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I'm sorry it was short, but thank you to all the angels reading this!


	5. Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, nothing much. Lovebird shenanigans

“Is this shiny enough for you?”

“Nope. Rub it harder,”

Eren snickered as Levi groaned behind him, busy scrubbing the blue seashell. Three days had passed since they both met and true to his promise, Levi hunted for their meals. He was brilliant when it came to snatching trouts from coral beds, expertly striking down on them and slashing their gills. After watching how Eren stripped the fish to discard its bones and eat the flesh, Levi had made it a habit to deprive the fish of its bones before letting Eren eat it, while his powerful canines shredded the bones and ate it for himself. Eren readily grew to accept this arrangement and the mer inside him approved as well. This merman was strong and capable.

The two stayed in caves that were abundant nearby in the deeper parts of the water, after making sure it didn’t belong to something else first. They came upon some squids, but after Levi initiated a war against them, the cave was surrendered to the two mers. Eren had quickly discovered that Levi bore a furious animosity towards squids.

“Why?” he had asked, to which Levi had replied, “I caught one to eat it, but it sprayed its ink inside my mouth,”

When Eren had complained of a busted gut later for laughing too much, Levi had refused to help him.

Eren took Levi from cave to cave as they hunted for a trace of the missing mers. On the way, Levi filled him in on the disappearances and the descriptions of the various mers that had vanished. Eren raked his brains hard, but he couldn’t recall any of them, apart from Reiner. The thought of the blonde merman filled Eren with nausea, but he continued to assist Levi. He couldn’t repress his own doubts though – what had become of Reiner and Erwin? Had they both severely wounded each other? Maybe one of them was dead?

“You look like shit,”

Eren snapped out of his thoughts. “Thanks. That’s the least rude thing you’ve said all day,”

Levi placed the shell aside. “Can we do this later?”

 “No. It is one of the most beautiful shells I’ve ever come across, and I will not let some grumpy ass merman ruin its beauty,”

“Grumpy what?” Levi’s ears perked up.

“Nothing.”

“What did you just call me?”

Eren laughed. “Never mind.”

“I’ll find a squid and force it to decorate your shell,”

“I said ‘ass’. It’s a word that humans use,”

“Humans?” Levi sat up straight. “Those weird things? What does that mean?”

“It’s an animal.” Eren tried to keep a straight face. “A kind of tame animal that humans love.”

“So are asses usually grumpy?”

Eren’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “You could say that,”

Levi hummed in thought. “I wouldn’t mind meeting an ass then,”

Eren doubled up laughing. His sides cramped painfully, but he couldn’t stop; the expression on Levi’s face was priceless and every time he recovered enough to look up, one sight at the raven’s face would send him guffawing again.

He choked and straightened up. “Yeah, you both will get along like fish and my hungry stomach,”

They swam ahead, brushing past seaweeds and an eel. Eren saw Levi tense up in high alert and he couldn’t help but snigger at how hyper the merman was. His back was straight, showing off those muscles and his midnight blue tail kept swishing about. In a way, it reminded Eren of his blue seashell. His tail also had delicate sky blue ripples; his fins extended from his shoulders to his toned elbows. Eren wanted to touch it. Levi also had fins extending down his back, colored a deep blue with the same delicate ripples.

Levi was so _enticing _…__ _Did he have a mate?_ Eren found himself wondering wistfully.

Levi had never come out to the shore before, so his skin was pale, like mist that hung over the air early in the morning. It worried Eren at first – he wondered whether Levi ate well. But Eren didn’t doubt his strength; everything from his narrow, alert irises, sharp fins and teeth to his muscular physique and talons screamed ‘predator’. But so far, he hadn’t tried to do anything dirty nor controlling and Eren’s respect for the calm and collected merman grew with every passing hour. He held himself so confidently… was he some kind of revered authority back at the community?

There were little specks of blue running from his neck, over his collarbones and shoulders. Eren wanted to lick them to feel Levi’s citrusy taste again. But he doubted Levi would approve. 

“So… do you know much about humans?” Levi asked curiously, breaking the silence. He didn’t talk much and gave Eren his space; the silence that accompanied them was always a comfortable one as Eren didn’t find himself forced to make small talk.

“You could say that,” Eren muttered, scaring a school off with a swish of his tail and watching them scatter. He loved scaring fish.

“Ok… do you think humans could be behind these attacks?”

“No way!” Eren twirled around, coming face-to-face with the raven. “I mean, they’re not us, but most of the humans who come out here are not that many, and besides, they’re all sweet and harmless,”

Levi crossed his arms over his chest. “How are you sure?”

“Because I’ve seen them. I see them every day,”

“What about them fascinates you so much?”

Eren thought. How could he put this?

“They’re weird. And I find their artifacts oddly endearing,”

Levi rolled his eyes at that. “I’ve got a friend who might ambush you if she heard that.”

“Let’s hope I don’t get to meet her then. Shall we keep moving?”

Levi gave a bored nod.

“Ok, there’s a cave right up ahead where we can rest if you want.” Eren huffed.

They swam for a while, neither speaking until they had finally reached a sort of broken-down hollow space cut into one side of a massive cliff. The ocean seemed to magically make numerous caves and cliffs appear out of nowhere, it seemed. Levi wrinkled his nose in distaste as he looked around; it was cramped and dark, not to mention musty. Eren felt a bit guilty about bringing him here; from what little time he had spent with Levi, he had found out that the merman was a stickler for cleanliness. Levi sighed and cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Say… what else do you know about the human world?”

Eren whirled around, grinning from ear to ear as he seized the topic happily. “Loads! For instance, did you know that humans are warm-blooded?”

“Warm-blooded?”

“It means that their body has to make its own heat even when it’s cold outside; unlike us merfolk, who can change our body temperature at will. That keeps us separated from cold-blooded animals too because their body temperature depends on their surroundings,”

Levi let out a low whistle. “I didn’t know that.”

“But that’s not all of it. There’s way more, Levi. I can tell you all sorts of things!” he eagerly trudged forward towards Levi, but suddenly pulled back feeling abashed. Why the hell would Levi listen to his inconsistent rambling?

“I’m sorry; you don’t care about that stuff, do you? I… I got a bit excited,”

“No...” Levi began slowly. “You’ve got my interest.”

Eren perked up and his tail swished. “Really?”

“I wouldn’t mind hearing you talk; I hate it when I have to make light conversation with someone. Just… keep it simple,” He mumbled.

Eren beamed and scooted closer to him, taking Levi’s hands in his own. The raven looked surprised by the gesture, but he didn’t recoil back. The specks of blue strewn over his collarbones and shoulders seemed to glow and cast dancing shadows on the slimy cave walls. His ears twitched and Eren felt his hands warm up.   
It had been ages since Eren had someone to talk to about his habits and findings. Levi’s scent had changed; it was welcoming and relaxing, making Eren feel at peace. Erwin’s scent had never been this comforting before…

He smiled and inhaled.

* * *

“Eren,” Levi questioned him later the next afternoon while watching him take a pile of sticks and grass that he had collected. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, this? I want to show you something!” Eren squeaked happily and began to arrange them in a small circle on the shore, like as though he was making a nest. Then he put the sticks into the circle, piling them up in a conical way before showing Levi a gleaming rock and something grey. The latter looked like some kind of thin, sharp twig.

“What are those?” Levi tried to take it from him.

“This is a flint,” Eren held the translucent rock that glowed in the sunset. While out hunting for shells in the past, the shiny flint lying all alone on the sand had beckoned him and Eren had complied without any resistance. “And _this_ is called a striker,” Eren showed him the grey object, a short piece of metal.

Levi stared at him, perplexed. “And what in the name of nature’s shit is that supposed to do?”

Eren flinched at the tone. “You need to mind your language.”

Levi gave a snort. “Trying to teach me to be a good little merman, are we?”

“Oh please. There’s nothing good about you. But little, yes.” Eren smirked.

“I can kill you,” He flashed his talons at Eren, who blanched. He tried to mask the anxiety in his scent; he had to play cool. If Levi showed signs of aggression, Eren couldn’t outrun him in these open waters.

“Darling, so could a duck. A jellyfish too or maybe even this rock.” Eren feigned amusement, elevating his scent to keep it normal. “You’re not special.”

He moved over to his pile of sticks and started rubbing the rock and the striker together, feeling the merman’s curious eyes on him. This would be fun.   
Levi gave a cry of surprise as bright, golden sparks leaped from Eren’s hands.

“Eren!” he cried in alarm and grabbed him, trying to pull him away from the sparks.

“It’s all right! I’ve done this many times,” Eren said with a reassuring smile that did nothing whatsoever to reassure Levi, who continued to cling to Eren’s arm. His claws evoked a tiny tingle of panic from Eren, but they were mindful of his skin and held him lightly, so he relaxed a little. The raven watched intently as Eren rubbed the flint and striker again and this time, shrieked as a bright orange light roared to life over the sticks. It danced menacingly, hissing and spitting sparks. It was like the waves of the ocean, but… sharper and warmer. He looked back and forth from the glowing light to Eren, who chuckled.

“It’s a fire.” He said softly.

“What the _fuck_ is a fire?” Levi spat.

“I knew that you merfolk wouldn’t know anything about it. I got a few burns myself before I worked it out,” Eren showed him his upper arms. “But my healing abilities helped a lot,”

“But what is it?”

“It’s another one of nature’s gifts. The ocean gives us cool waves, while wind supplies us fresh air to breathe. The sun brings light and a new day. Fire,” he turned to Levi, “provides us with light too… and warmth,”

Eren tugged Levi closer and surveyed his face intently as he stood close to the flames. He seemed enraptured by the way the flames shimmered and twisted.

“It’s warm…” he admitted.

“That’s what I told you,”

“How… how did you find out about this? About all of this?”

Eren’s heart fluttered with the way Levi gazed at him.

 “I… I came across humans one day, and hid, watching them from behind some rocks.” He explained later as he held a fish aloft on a stick above the flames. “I saw them doing this, and I tried it as well, using some of the things they had left behind. As I said, it didn’t work out at first, but then I got it eventually,”

Levi took the fish Eren offered him and sniffed at it. “I haven’t poisoned it,” Eren teased.

Levi pinched his arm and tore the end of the fish and munched on it. Eren watched him nervously, waiting for his reaction.

“…Not bad…”

“That’s all you can say?!”

“What do you want me to do?” Levi shrugged as he ate. “I could start howling and slap my tail on the water and clap,”

“You could at least say it was nice!” Eren pouted.

“Ok, it’s nice,”

Eren huffed again and turned away, arms crossed over his chest. The two didn’t talk for a while and Eren busied himself with the sand, while Levi ate his meal in silence. The mer inside scolded him for not pleasing the merman with something as simple as a meal, but Eren ignored it. He had roasted fish several times and they had always tasted brilliant. Why should he apologize if Levi didn’t have good taste?

All the same… Eren’s ears couldn’t help but drop. Should he catch another fish and let Levi eat it raw?

“Hey…”

Eren glanced at him from the corner of his eyes.

“Ok, I’m dealing with a big baby here, aren’t I?” Levi brushed his arm lightly.

“And I’m dealing with a stuck-up asshole!”

Levi rolled his eyes and used his hands to drag him towards Eren, who couldn’t help but notice the way his stormy eyes softened the closer he came and how inviting his broad chest appeared. Could he fit in there? He shook his head, face heating up furiously.  _What was wrong with him?_

Levi clutched one of Eren’s arms, bare in comparison and pulled him. “It was really good, ok? I’ve never eaten anything like that before and I liked it,”

The undisguised sincerity in his voice had Eren’s stomach performing backflips again. His scent was so strong and Eren automatically gravitated towards his neck, wishing to inhale more of the salty breeze. His head touched Levi’s and his inside mer purred, happy with the contact. This was good contact. This was not Erwin. This merman was warm and cool at the same time and Eren irked for the gap between them to vanish. It was a while before he came to his senses and realized he was _actually_ purring out loud.   
  
Eren hurriedly put some space between them, despite his mind’s fury at doing so.

“Uh…Um, er…”

“What? I don’t speak baby,”

“…Thank you.”

Levi studied him for a while; the intensity of his grey eyes demanded Eren’s attention to be solely focused on him and discard all other thoughts from his mind.

“Tell me more about yourself, Eren.”

Eren choked on his fish. “What?”

“I’m curious about why a mermaid like you would choose to ogle over humans and live all the way out here,”

Eren stared. “I think you’ll find it dull,”

“I find everything dull. At least this way I’ll fall asleep faster. So talk,”

Eren twiddled his thumbs nervously. Should he? It was just a simple question. Eren was trying hard to behave as nonchalant and cheery as he could, and avoiding an answer might provoke suspicion.

He could tell a bit. That wouldn’t cause much harm, would it?

“I don’t know much about my dad…” Eren began, picking at his claws, tiny in comparison to Levi's. “He didn’t stick around. And every memory I have about mom is… vague and distorted. I don’t remember much,”

He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder gently.

“I grew up away from the mer village because mom thought that I might not be welcome there… and one day we both were caught in a net,” Eren invented. “She managed to free me, but not herself and… I don’t know what happened to her. I saw hands grab her though. I think they were human hands. I’m not sure.

The mer community seemed like a scary place, so I swam away. It was a bit terrifying at first, but I got used to fending for myself. It was even fun at times… no one to restrict me or scold me, no one to push me away… the ocean made me feel like I belonged. That’s all,”

“Eren?”

Eren met his eyes. “Yeah?”

“Humans separated you and your mother… yet earlier, you defended them when I proposed that they might be behind these disappearances.”

“Not all humans are bad Levi! We all have faults here and there… doesn’t mean we should be judged by them only! Take a look at you for example!”

“What about me?”

“Well… well, you’re…” Eren struggled for words.

Levi looked politely confused, but he had no idea what he meant to Eren. Eren had been chased half his life by wild mermen, almost all of them forcing him to bond with them. Erwin was the most monstrous – Eren had never been able to sleep, always moving from cave to cave, constantly looking out for his back, fearing for his life and hiding from the brute. He had thought the mermen were horrible creatures – both Erwin and his mum always stressed on that fact… until Levi. And while Levi hadn’t done anything great like saving his life, he hadn’t done anything bad either... that wasn’t impressive, he knew.

But he had grown attached to the merman. Levi was quiet, in a good way. He let Eren sleep on his shoulder without much thought. He listened to Eren ramble and gush. He had a shit mouth, but he was unintentionally funny. And most of all, Eren liked his silent, but strong presence. He didn’t know, he didn’t understand, but his gut tugged him strongly in Levi’s direction.

Levi respected his boundaries. Levi treated him like… an actual creature with feelings. Erwin had never done that.

 “You’re nice.” Eren blurted out lamely.

“I’m nice?” Levi repeated, brows arched.

_You’re strong and beautiful… you haven’t tried to hurt me or seduce me. You give me my space._

 “Yeah… you’re not a bad merman Levi. I like being around you,” Eren told him, pushing all the sincerity he could muster into those words. A slight tinge of pink dusted Levi’s cheeks, but he didn’t look away.

“Thank you,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the thing; merfolk can change their body temp whenever they want to. If it's boiling hot, they just reduce their temperature until they're freezing or nice and cool. And the same goes for winter. Ahhhhhhh.  
> And the shore is actually a kind of picnic spot, but not a beach. Y'all know how humans litter the planet, so someone was having a barbecue and left their striker. Flints can be found almost anywhere.  
> The mers living in the community don't venture out too far away. So yeah, they don't know what the heck fire is.  
> Thank you for reading this! I'll update it once a week unless I'm feeling generous!!


	6. Touch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren being the adorable shit he is and Levi being helplessly in love.

Days turned into weeks. Eren, it transpired soon, was delightful to be around with.

He chirped happily for hours on end, amusing Levi with vivid details and facts about the outside world; the merfolk never dared to go near the shores and coves, but the way Eren talked about it made Levi yearn to see more. He was different from Hanji in a nice sort of way; while she rambled on and on non-stop, Eren communicated through gestures and expressions as well and seemed to know when to speak and when to shut up. His beautiful viridian tail never ceased to stay still and vibrated constantly. His eyes were so bright and face so animated, it made Levi feel _alive._ His inner beast crooned whenever he and Eren sat too close while sharing their meals or talking, and his snorts and smiles had him melting.

He told Levi about the wild adventures he had had ever since he had been a pup and some of his narrow escapes; he explained about the humans and their peculiar ways, and Levi soon began to see them in a new light. But while Eren eulogized the humans, he also kept Levi in light of some of their not-so-good deeds, keeping him in check on both sides of the picture which was something Levi appreciated about him.

It had been two weeks since Levi had met Eren, and they weren’t getting any closer to the missing troopers. He wondered how the community was: did they believe he was dead too? Was Hanji rampaging around the village? What was Isabel doing?

Eren looked out for him when he felt particularly sour, and Levi had to admit he was good at coming up with distractions. After hours of coaxing, Levi had reluctantly agreed to be dragged onto the shore which he had never been to before.

The shore was a graceful arc of sand, glittering under the summer sun, a place for the placid ocean to lap. The waves rolled in with a soothing sound, aqua kissing the sand with her blue lips briefly, before running away chortling. Every few meters or so, she brought treasures of the marine world, particularly seashells that appealed to Eren to no end and Levi had to often bark at him to slow down. However, Levi quietly took some of the shiny objects himself, planning on pleasing Eren with it later.

The mermaid was a little ball of energy and curiosity wrapped up in the loveliest form he had ever seen. Eren practically bounced along, racing from here to there whenever something caught his eye. Every one of his movements, Levi observed, was graceful and elegant, from twisting in the currents to just swishing around his tail to treading the water, his body’s beautiful curves thrown in sharp relief, especially when he leaped out of the water. Levi wanted to wrap his arms around the brunet’s gracile waist and pin him down, holding him captive. The desire to mark the mermaid was saturated in him and he couldn’t get it out of his head, especially whenever Eren’s scent of sweet lilies teased his nose.

The specks of hue around Eren’s shoulders fascinated Levi: they changed, like a kaleidoscope (Eren had told him it was a human instrument that displayed a variety of colors): from blue to green, from green to golden, from golden to turquoise and back to blue. Levi enjoyed tracing them when the brunet fell asleep, feeling the soft shoulders tense and relax now and then, resisting the bestial urge to  _bite_ him. But Eren's sweet face on his shoulder forced Levi to bite down his instincts; Eren had chosen to trust Levi and Levi would never give him a reason to feel otherwise.

At night they slept in grottos that were found in plenty in the depths. Eren had a thing for warmth, so eager to please both his conscience and mermaid, Levi had attempted to wrap himself around Eren, only to end up being scratched and punched away. Eren had looked at him with wide eyes and Levi’s hurt at the rejection only dissipated when the pungent scent of fear hit him; realizing Eren was just afraid of him, he had clicked for the mermaid to come closer, his own scent trying to soothe Eren’s nerves. It had taken a while, but eventually, Eren welcomed the way Levi blanketed him and even scooted over to him during nights, eagerly awaiting to be cuddled. The caves they stayed in often smelled of fresh earth and salty ocean. A glut of satisfaction took up residence in Levi’s chest every time Eren purred in his sleep and rubbed himself on Levi – he was keeping Eren happy.

Having lived protecting the mer community for half his life, he never had much time to just sit back and unwind a little, constantly living in a state of worry and anxiety over some new foe. But his closely guarded and carefully woven mask was beginning to be unraveled by Eren’s smooth and skilled fingers as he began to relax around the brunet. For a while, he completely forgot about why he had originally left the community for as he joined Eren in his frolics, exploring new caves etched into the never-ending trails of cliff faces, scaring away schools, hunting fish and eels, finding scintillating seashells with detailed engravings and patterns. He found one particularly striking shell that first looked like it was a part of the sand; when he had dug it out, Levi saw that it had the same golden shade, and was adorned with waves and ripples of every hue between green and blue. As he looked at the brunet playing happily with a bunch of otters, he suppressed a smile and kept the shell for himself, its patterns reminding him of a certain bright mermaid.

* * *

 

At some point, Eren introduced him to the furry little creatures he claimed were his best friends. The otters, Levi had to admit, were ridiculously adorable. But they held a stiff competition with Eren, who baffled Levi in his own way. The critters slapped Eren’s hand in a way of greeting and brought clams from the deeper parts of the ocean that they proudly presented to him before beginning to work on it. Eren showed him how they kept the clams close to their chest and struck them on rocks to open it. Levi, with a ‘psh’, snatched one of the clams and opened it with one swipe of his claws.

Eren implored him to play with them, but Levi hesitated. His claws and fins were too long and sharp.

“I’ll hurt them,” Levi said with a shake of his head.

Eren took Levi’s hands into his own and studied his claws. They were curved and lengthy, with numerous scratches on them that were relics of previous battles. The sight of Eren’s small fingers touching his claws filled him with a strange sense of pride – pride over the fact that this sweet mermaid had chosen to get this close to a predator like him and touch his claws. Eren was either really brave or extremely reckless and Levi had a hard time differentiating between the two.

“If you are careful enough, you can touch them. I’ll show you,”

Guiding Levi, he showed how to hold the otters without grazing them with his claws. It took him some tries and Eren corrected him patiently until Levi got the hang of it. The next second, he had four of the otters clinging to his waist, in his arms, on his shoulder and head. Eren gushed at the sight.

“Aww, you’re such a softie,”

“I can still kill them,”

Eren stuck his tongue out again. “You won’t because you’re an absolute softie. Are you sure you’re not an otter yourself?”

Levi opened his mouth to retort, but the muscles in his body tensed at once when his scent glands slickened. He gasped, forgetting how to breathe for a second as his glands continued to slick and felt rough bristles scrape the sensitive skin. Levi jerked at once and the otter licking his glands stumbled and fell into the water with a surprised squeak. He shook the remaining otters off him and dug his hands into the sand, panting.

“Levi, are you ok?” Eren held two of the otters as they struggled to escape. His scent washed over Levi and anchored him. “Yeah, it’s nothing. One of them thought I’d make a good mate and licked my glands,”

Eren dropped the otters at once and they too ‘plopped’ into the water with squeaks. He waddled towards Levi, concern scribbled over his face. He put his hands on Levi’s shoulders to support him as he got closer to Levi's neck. Levi tilted his head to allow Eren access to his gills and scent glands when he froze; mermen _never_ tilted their necks like that – their gills were the most vulnerable part and heavily guarded. The action was merely a sign of submission when two mermen fought.

Yet here he was, surrendering to Eren.

Eren’s fingers lightly trailed over Levi’s glands and he shuddered. This was alright. It was Eren who was touching him. Eren wouldn’t hurt him.

Levi purred heatedly as something damp pressed itself to his glands. Eren was _smelling_ him.

His hands reached out for the brunet at once and brought him closer. The wetness of a tongue slicked Levi’s glands again and he crooned at the sensation, encouraging the mermaid to continue while his primal instincts danced in triumph. His mermaid was smelling him. His mermaid was close. His mermaid was licking him. Levi was _ecstatic_. If this was how good it felt to have Eren licking his scent glands, he wanted it to happen every day.

Fresh earth and salty ocean mingled again as Levi shook his neck, urged to scent mark the mermaid and take him back to a closed space. They were out in the open and Levi wanted to be safely tucked away in a dark grotto at once where Eren could further heighten his euphoria. But along with their combined scent, Levi’s nose recoiled at once as something _foul_ surrounded the air. They both stopped, faces colored red, but senses high and alert. There was a presence near them that _reeked_ and harbored malevolence. Levi’s instincts took over, demanding him to keep Eren safe and leave the place at once.

“Let’s find a cave. It’s getting late,” he told Eren, who nodded. The terror in Eren’s scent should have been concerning, but Levi pulled him and dived.  

* * *

 

Levi was also starting to have other concerns: he was getting nowhere closer to finding out the missing mers. Eren had been helping him, working hard to navigate through the cliffs and rocks and looking for any sign that could help them, but he had found nothing. Levi couldn’t blame him though; the mermaid was trying in earnest to help.

But his biggest problem was Eren himself; Levi was beginning to lose control over his primal urges as he found more excuses to touch Eren and get closer to him. If the brunet was offended by his actions, Levi felt that he was doing a great job of hiding it. Levi didn’t want Eren to feel like as though he was like any other merman who’d simply grab him and mate with him; he saw how free-spirited the brunet was and his rebellious nature and spent hours staring at him, his stomach twisting and heart jumping every time Eren laughed or called out his name with his melodious voice.

How could he force someone so beautifully wild and strong-headed into a bond? He could just give up and let him go, which Levi felt was the right thing to do, but every time Eren smiled at him or fell asleep leaning against his shoulder made Levi realize with increasing intensity that it was hopeless; he was too madly captivated by Eren to let him go. He didn’t want to let him go. He had made great progress with Eren so far and didn’t want his efforts to go to waste, especially since Eren was the only one of his kin who had aroused his interests. He couldn’t hide how his heart thrummed when Eren cuddled by his side. He couldn’t ignore how warm and soft Eren’s flesh was against his icy cold one. He couldn’t stop thinking about his plush lips, itching to taste him again.

He wanted to bite Eren and mark him. He wanted Eren to come back to his cave and share his nest.

* * *

 

One afternoon, Eren dived into the water and returned moments later, his hands full of smooth pebbles. As he handed them over to Levi, the raven couldn’t help but run his hands over Eren’s arms, smoother than any of those pebbles, earning him a blush. It made him look comely. They waited in the water for a while, half submerged and locked in a half-embrace. Eren gave a small whine and Levi pulled back instantly flushing.

“What are those for?” he pointed at the pebbles, trying to cover up the intimate moment.

Eren looked strangely dazed for a moment, like as though he was dreaming, before returning to his usual hyper air.

“For the fire, duh. Don’t you want to eat like last time?”

“Oh… right.”

Eren frowned and poked Levi’s cheek. “Hey, are you feeling ok?”

It was too much; nobody had ever looked at Levi with the amount of concern and tenderness that Eren was giving him, not since he had found out the day he was actually a bastard and an orphan; Eren was like an open book, wearing all his emotions on his sleeve; honest and good ones.   

“Levi?” Eren touched him gently, taking care not to scratch him with his tiny claws.

They were so near, Levi could feel the heat radiating from Eren’s body. Something about that soft skin touching his own, his fine features and the way Eren called out his name and looked at him made Levi snap.

Levi grabbed his wrist and pinned him down into the sand on his back.  He hovered over Eren’s surprised face and let his weight drop on Eren’s chest. They were face to face, and Levi could feel Eren’s heart hammer wildly. He felt a jolt as he realized his own heart was beating like mad as their connected chests rubbed over each other, their breaths mingling. Eren’s pupils were dilated and he was breathing heavily: Levi could feel the tiny puffs of air skimming past his face. He could now see tiny flares of light twinkling in the ocean orbs that were soon extinguished by a black hole, and soft red lips millimeters away from his own…

A sudden yelp echoed behind them and it was like a sharp blow to the head; both mers came out of their trance and Levi jerked around wildly, looking for the wretched thing that had disturbed them.

It was an otter. Levi generally didn’t mind them, but now he wished for nothing more than to squeeze the shitty creature in his hands until it gave a satisfactory ‘pop’.

Eren for once didn’t go to pick the otter up. He was still lying on the sand, dazed, staring at him like as though he had just realized Levi existed.

“What? You’ve never seen a merman before?” Levi joked, trying to cool down the atmosphere.

“I’ve seen enough of them to last me for a lifetime.” Eren’s tone was bitter all of a sudden, and he got up, sliding into the water as his tail vanished with a  _'plop'._

 


	7. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi fights for Eren

At first, it was a mere trickle of uneasiness and shame. Now it had given way to fear and now full-blown panic. But Levi didn’t feel an inch of concern for himself. His thoughts were severed in two – one on Eren and the other on the ghastly scenery laid out before him.

He had finally found it. A deep cavern-trench like enclosure concealed by the earth, rocks and the aqua, ridden with bones and half-rotting flesh. The stench made Levi gag and he wondered for the millionth time why he had a nose. He wished for Eren to be near him so that he could rub his nose in the brunet’s scent glands and inhale those sweet lilies that had intoxicated him. That would have helped a lot.

_Eren._

His shame squirmed violently in his stomach as he remembered Eren’s hurt face and bitter words. Ever since Eren had vanished, he had been looking for him tirelessly, even abandoning his earlier mission. He didn’t understand how Eren had managed to swim away so quickly. His inner mer kept berating him for scaring Eren away like that instead of taking it slowly. It was his fault that Eren no longer swam by his side, chattering away happily and dragging him to another cave in search of more seashells.

Maybe he could persuade Eren to forgive him if he found more shells.

_No, you fuck; you pinned him down and almost ate his face._

_I didn’t._

_You wanted to._

_No!_

_You wanted to hear him moan your name._

_Ye- NO._

_This is your fault._

_SHUT UP!_

Levi trod the water, his powerful tail pushing him forwards. He kept his senses alert for any signs of some monstrosity.

As he ventured deeper into the trench, his stomach sickened and twisted itself into knots. Some of the cadavers were half-eaten. Some were missing their limbs. Others had been turned inside out. One was mutilated so badly that the monster must have been trying to create some kind of work of art: the monster had tried to make a merman of its own design, but it was evident that the creature was neither skilled nor did it know what a merman looked like. The foul stench threatened to make Levi’s nose fall off.

His tail brushed against one of the corpses and he shoved it aside, revealing its face.

_Reiner._

His ash blonde hair was streaked with crimson, ribs were torn apart and his entrails were pouring out in greeting. From all the corpses, he was the only one remotely recognizable and not made into a grotesque showpiece. He reeked the most; Levi had arrived at the shore two weeks ago, immediately after the news of Reiner’s disappearance. So Reiner must have already been dead by then or dying. The thought of the merman breathing out his last while Levi hunted for shells with Eren throbbed painfully in his mind.

Levi should have felt fury. He should have propelled himself out of the cavern and immediately hunted down the monster and make it suffer his wrath.

But his only thought was Eren.

Was Eren ok?

What if he was hurt somewhere and was unable to call for help?

What if he had encountered the beast responsible for this?

Or what if… Levi’s heart clenched…

What if he had found a merman who treated him better?

He shook his head.  _Focus._

He had found the lair of this creature. That itself was a gigantic leap forward. Now, he had to play it safe and report it back to the community before something happened to him. Levi was strong, but he knew hunting this thing down alone without knowing a damn about what it was would be equal to suicide; he needed reinforcements.

And he needed to find Eren.

Levi swam out of the cavern and spared it a final glance. It was very well hidden indeed: seaweed and serrated rocks covered the sides and entrance and anyone who looked at it would see nothing but kelp and boulders. Memorizing the path to the lair, Levi swam away as fast as he could. His fins and tail itched – the waters here were contaminated and pretty soon would become poisonous enough to kill any marine creature within a matter of seconds. But Levi’s fears were more concentrated on the odor – the stink of corpses was familiar to him, but a new and strange smell blanketed the area as well. He shuddered – the smell harbored violence and bloodlust. Clearly, it could belong to only one creature: the one behind all the attacks.

This region was dangerous and he didn’t want Eren to get hurt. He had to hurry after him. A low growl formed in his throat at the thought of someone laying a finger on his Eren.

 _His_ Eren? When had he started thinking like that?

Levi broke the surface, scanning the vicinity. He was away from the shore, and it was most likely that Eren wouldn’t be returning there anytime soon. Maybe he had decided to take shelter in one of the caves in the cliffs…

Levi dived, pushing the water faster. His tail moved vigorously and his strong arms trod the water without effort, fins blared on either side for speed. Fear was weighing him down like a boulder. If he didn’t find the mermaid quickly…

Levi remembered Eren’s tone when he spoke about how Levi had been nice to him and the way he had always been tense when the two seemed to touch each other. Had... had Eren experienced something really bad with a merman to make him behave that way? He had also said that the community was a scary place and had been living in isolation since he was a pup…

But why? What had made him so afraid to live in the community where he could be safe and sound with his own kin?

_‘My mother thought I might not be welcome there…’_

Was he a bastard too? No one would mind, least of all Levi… bastards were common among the merfolk. They were usually the result of forced bondage. But...

Had someone tried to force Eren into a bond?

Levi felt a rush of anger towards whoever had tormented him. Eren had refused to believe humans were bad even though his mother had died at their hands. Who’d dare hurt someone that sweet and forgiving? The merman didn’t deserve any mercy. Levi decided that if he were to find Eren, he’d bring the mermaid to the village where he could keep an eye on the brunet. Who knew how long Eren had been living in agony?

His ears flicked wildly and they perked up as a shrill cry echoed across the deathly silence of the aqua.

He knew that voice. The beast inside him bellowed in rage.

* * *

He hadn’t meant to go away. In fact, Eren had wanted Levi to take it further. He couldn't forget how their bodies had been connected and heated, Levi’s stomach rubbing roughly against the soft skin around his navel and how ragged Levi’s breathing had been, like as though he was going through great pain. Their faces had been  _so close…_  Eren had seen a faint scar above his lips, the lips that he could have kissed… if it hadn’t been for that disturbance.

Levi had played it off as a joke, but Eren was still hurt. Hurt that Levi hadn’t taken his consent. That was a stupid reason, given that he felt Levi could probably claim him and Eren wouldn’t even bat an eye, but he had just wanted to have a little time for himself, clear his head about the extremely mixed feelings he was having about Levi. Did he want him? Eren felt ashamed when he instantly realized the answer was yes, but did Levi want him?   
Eren had had enough experiences to know that only his slit was interesting, not him. And did Eren want to be claimed? No, he didn’t want that. He wanted to be free and continue exploring the world around him, not be caged up to produce pups. And he knew Levi would never accept something like him.

He didn’t want to be kidnapped either.

His body stinging and burning, Eren kept his head bowed low, not saying anything. His tail was curled up around him and he wished he could stay tucked inside it forever.

“I’ll ask you one last time… _Eren_ ,” he purred Eren’s name dangerously. “Who was that merman you were with?”

Eren didn’t answer. The scars on his arms were beginning to throb and he winced. Erwin traced a talon on his cheek, drawing a thin line of scarlet. Eren bit his lip to stop himself from screaming.

“He could have hurt you Eren… I don’t think you know what nasty creatures mermen are and what they are capable of…”

“I think you’ve got mermen and yourself mixed up. They are nowhere as nasty as you!”

Erwin growled and gripped Eren’s shoulders tightly, tearing the flesh and washing the area with red.

 “I don’t see any bite marks.” He pulled back satisfied. “So he didn’t touch you after all.”

“Oh no, he did.” Eren glared up at him, eyes burning. “He laid his hands on whichever part of my body he could reach. He made me wet and had me moaning and mewling at every stroke of his finger. He gave me a far better show than you could ever hope to have for yourself!”

Erwin dug his talons deeper into Eren’s shoulders who gave another cry of pain before forcing himself to remain silent. He would _not_ scream in front of Erwin.

Unrelenting, Erwin tightened his hold on the brunet, breaking his skin and Eren bit his lip to shut up, as he watched the blue water around them interweave with threads of red. Erwin pushed him harder against the flat yet jagged floor of a stunted grotto, sinking his claws into every inch of flesh he could, while Eren struggled and thrashed, desperately trying to shut his mouth and not shout.

“Trying to be a tough little soldier huh? Leave that to the troopers, Eren,” his icy orbs glittered maliciously. “You’re too weak and pathetic, and so is that merman friend of yours–”

He was cut off as Eren suddenly lunged towards him with a hiss and Erwin got a face full of Eren’s claws; they were nothing compared to the claws of the mermen, but they were still sharp and Eren set to disfiguring the face he loathed into something more appealing, while chanting _‘not Levi_ ’ over and over again. Levi wasn’t weak. Levi wasn’t pathetic. Even a single lock of his hair was worth far more than a hundred of Erwin.

Every time Erwin made a swipe at him, Eren twisted and slipped away from his grasp, his lithe form enabling him to move fast. He dug his claws into every inch of the brute’s body and laughed as Erwin failed to catch him, mocking him by slapping Erwin’s face with his tail.

“You look beautiful Erwin! Much better than how you used to be!” Eren gushed, unable to hide his glee.

“Oh, is that so?” Erwin growled. His left eye was beginning to turn purple, and his face looked like as though someone had dragged it on one of the cliff rocks. He started towards Eren.

“Beautiful enough to make a perfect mate for a jellyfish,” snarled a deep voice.

Relief flared inside Eren’s chest, a wonderful flame burning so bright that for a moment he almost felt light-headed. To say that he was happy to see the raven merman floating above them was an understatement. His heart raced like it was being chased by a shark, surprising him, and his throat crooned of its own accord, calling out the merman to him. He was tired, exhausted and starving. He wanted to sleep peacefully without being worried about anything and craved for the embrace of Levi’s arms, for comfort.  

“And who the fuck are you?” Erwin growled and his tail swished at Levi in warning, who thrashed his own tail.

“Someone with considerably better manners than you. Leave him alone,”

Erwin spat blood from his mouth. “You mermen never learn, do you? The mermaid is already spoken for,”

“And I want to change that. I am challenging you,”

“If I get my hands on you, consider yourself already dead and rotting,” Erwin showed him his talons.  

“Eren,” Levi barked. “Stay back.”

“YOU DARE CALL HIM BY HIS NAME?!”

Eren dived as Erwin lunged for Levi with a feral hiss. Hiding behind a broken rock, he peered hesitantly to watch the two creatures fight.

Erwin had his fins extended out and used his brutish strength to his advantage, trying to grab Levi and crush him in his grasp. He swiped and ducked, flipping his massive tail and tried to wreck Levi with it, roaring with frustration as he failed to do so.

Pride surged through Eren as he watched Levi; the merman also had his fins out, and he was breathtaking to watch: nothing more than a whirlwind of indigo and white, Levi was impossibly flexible and agile, slashing at and ripping out Erwin’s flesh with his talons. Erwin howled whenever Levi got him, while Levi’s lips curled into a victorious smirk. He was strong too, and Erwin just had his size to boast of. Levi twirled and slid around Erwin, at home in the water and Eren gave a small gasp of awe as he watched Levi practically  _dance_ instead of fight. He was majestic. Somehow, Eren felt that Levi was actually enjoying himself.

With a burst of speed, he dragged his talons across Erwin’s chest. Erwin screamed as Levi slammed him against the rock behind which Eren was hiding and tilted his head, ready to tear his throat apart.

“STOP!”   

“What?” Levi growled.

“I… surrender…” Erwin panted.

Levi glared at him, sizing him up; If a merman surrendered, then the other merman was honor bound to spare his life. After a tense moment, he finally thrust him aside. Erwin sank down in relief, massaging his throat.

A soft click of Levi’s tongue had Eren coming out of his hiding place. When he saw Erwin, he resisted the urge to go add scars of his own and instead looked at Levi. “Not bad,”

“Not bad? That’s all you have to say?”

“Then what should I do? Ooze all over you like a delighted jellyfish?”

Levi’s upper lip curled. “Oh, aren’t you a little shit…”

Eren lips curved into a grin that he failed to suppress and readily took the hand that Levi offered him, his earlier bitterness vanishing at once. Nothing could replace the wonderful relief that had sagged through him when he had heard the merman's beautiful voice. Levi’s smile soon turned into rage, however, as he took in the scarlet scribbles carelessly drawn all over Eren’s body and the torn flesh.

“ _Did_ _he_ _do this to you?_ _”_ he hissed venomously.

Eren opened his mouth but closed it again as he saw the look in Levi’s eyes. Levi always concealed how he felt, presenting a calm and stoic mask on the outside, but every inch of his face roared blood right now as he turned to Erwin. Eren felt many things towards Levi, but this was the first time he actually felt  _fear_. Levi’s scent changed sharply and the entire water around them was soon saturated with bloodlust and fury as the merman advanced.

“Levi no!” Eren grabbed him by his middle and tugged.

Levi stared at him incredulously. “No?  _No?! EREN, LOOK AT WHAT HE DID TO YOU!”_

“I know, I know! But Levi, just… just leave him here, let’s go! Please? He’s too weak, he won’t follow us! We can get out of here!”

“Eren-"

“Please? It hurts.” Eren pleaded. Levi looked uncertainly at him and then to the wounded mer, before giving in. He curled his hand around Eren’s upper arm, who winced.

“Sorry,” he added quickly.

“It’s fine, I’ve had worse,” Eren assured him. “Can we please go? Quickly?”  He wanted to get out of this filthy place and go as far away as possible. Maybe they could find another cave to rest in? He was so _tired_. He couldn't care less if the cave was cramped; he wanted to go someplace away from Erwin and he whined to get Levi's attention.

“Hold on to me,” Levi instructed. Eren squeaked and stammered as Levi pulled him closer, making him hold on to the raven’s chest while he himself clasped Eren’s waist. Eren didn’t stay still, mind and heart racing with fear as Levi’s claws pressed over his wounds.

“It’s uncomfortable, I know. But it’s quicker this way.”

Eren nodded. _This is Levi_ , he told himself. _Levi won’t hurt me._ As though to reassure himself, he gripped Levi tightly.

“Sleep,” Levi whispered.

“What?”

“You can trust me, Eren. Sleep.”

Eren didn’t remember closing his eyes. He only remembered the strong but gentle pressure of Levi’s arms around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. I told you guys that I'll update once a week, but I'm already a few chapters ahead, so here I am being generous and updating earlier than usual. Also, I'll still release the next chapter this weekend!  
> Again, I love you guys so much! Thank you for reading this!


	8. Pursuit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi brings Eren to the mer village

“Eren?” Someone whispered in his ear. It was followed by a round of firm nudging and shaking. “Eren. Wake up.”

He groaned an answer, twisting in his bed. Not now. He was so tired.

“Eren.” More shaking.

Sleeping like this without any care in the world was a luxury to him, something only achieved in dreams. The warmth surrounding him sang a sweet tune, encasing him in its hold. Not yet; _please, a few more minutes_ , Eren thought. He snuggled closer, hoping if he ignored the voice, it would leave him alone to sleep.

“Eren.”

“Unh,”

He heard someone sigh. Something wet scraped over his glands and Eren shot bolt upright, wide awake. His hands immediately reached for his neck, frantically making sure his glands were alright. They were coated with a sticky substance that was quickly merging with the water.

He wasn’t lying in a bed; no, that bed was _Levi_ , Eren realized. The merman held him close to his chest, eyes lazily taking him in. Eren’s cheeks boiled.

Had Levi _licked_ his glands?

“We’re here,” Levi announced, oblivious to his turmoil. Letting go of Eren, he swam forward. Eren rubbed his eyes groggily, shaking his head to rid himself of the last traces of drowsiness before joining Levi.

When his eyes were back in focus, he found himself staring at his most terrifying sight yet.

Eren had seen many cliffs, lived in many caves and climbed many rocks. But the cliff face in front of him had to be the hugest, its dark face leering at him menacingly. He felt tiny, like a krill compared to a blue whale. The waters, completely black, didn’t harbor any life here – they were at the very _bottom_ of the ocean.   

He swallowed and pushed forward but Levi thrust out an arm to stop him. He silently pointed with his hand, showing the crude edges of a trail of rocks that littered the path to the cliff. The rocks could tear him to shreds.  A few seaweeds floated about, but no other life was in sight save for them. Eren’s tail swished nervously, not liking the oppressive atmosphere. He wanted the sunny beaches and the salty breeze of the shore.

Levi’s hand curled around his wrist and tugged.

“No,”

He turned back to look at Eren, confused. “No?”

Eren shook his head, struggling to free his hand. He knew where Levi was taking him.

“Levi, I can’t…” he faltered, taking a few steps back. His eyes were trained on the cliff. No way. Not there.

The merman tilted his head, frowning. “You can’t what? Swim? I can carry you,” he offered.

Eren shook his head, the panic rising up fast. This was the place that haunted his dreams, the place he dreaded more than anything else, the place his mother had warned him countless times to stay away from. He was an intruder here. No, he was not welcome. He frantically looked around, mind whirring to understand how to get back to the shore. Could he out swim Levi though?

“Eren.”  Levi’s cool voice grounded him, temporarily scaring some of the panic away. “This is where the merfolk live. Where creatures like _us_ live,” he gestured his hand between them both. “I know you’ve spent most of your life at the shore, but the mer community is a well-disposed place. You’ll be safe here,”

 “I’m not coming there,” Eren tugged again, the paranoia growing bigger and bigger, its waves crashing against the thin walls he had built to keep them in. They’d break any second. Levi’s grip tightened

“It’s nothing to be afraid–”

“IT IS EVERYTHING TO BE AFRAID OF!” He shrieked hysterically, the waves carrying his voice further away. Ignoring Levi’s look of incredulity, Eren pulled on his hand in a wild frenzy, his tail thrashing and hitting Levi’s in a feeble attempt to escape. He hit Levi’s arm with his other hand, tried to claw at him and even slapped his mid-riff with his tail, but Levi’s grip on him was iron. It barely shifted. Distressed, Eren’s glands released a waft of bitter lily. Levi recoiled from the scent at once and grabbed both his arms to subdue him. The mers fought wildly, Eren’s screams curbed by Levi’s grunts and a hand over his mouth as he stilled the brunet. 

“I will _not_ let you stay at the shore. There is a killer on the loose!”

“I can defend myself!”  Eren shouted back, wrenching his mouth free.

“Defend yourself?” Levi snorted. “Forgive me if I’m not screaming in horror at the sight of you, but your claws are ticklish at their best and your tail does nothing more than wave like flimsy seaweed.”

“I’m not coming with you!” Eren cried shrilly, ignoring Levi’s jape. “I don’t want to! Please, Levi!”

“Eren, you’ll be safe-“

“I WON’T!”

Levi’s glare hardened and his lips became so thin, they almost disappeared. “Alright,” he said acidly. “Where do you want to go instead?”

Eren’s answer was ready at once. “The shore,”

“Fine. Go,”

Eren didn’t go. He stared, taken aback.

“You want to go back to the shore, you’re more than welcome. But I would like to remind you, Erwin is still out there. So is whatever the thing that is killing all these mers. And,” he added icily, “you were asleep during the journey to here. If you are an expert way finder who knows how to get back to the beach from the depths of the ocean without getting a scratch, go ahead. Tell the sharks I send them my greetings,”

As the weight of his words sank in, Eren furiously looked for a loophole. Something, anything, to argue with. But it was fruitless; He didn’t know how to return to the beach from here, couldn’t defend himself from threats like sharks and octopi, let alone find caves in these depths of the ocean to hide in. And then there was Erwin. Prowling about, waiting to pounce on him the moment he returned. He definitely wouldn’t be all smiles and ‘welcome back, I missed you!’

Eren shut his mouth, defeated.

“That’s what I thought.” Levi crossed his arms, satisfied. “Hurry up and get over here,”

Eren paddled up to him, feeling like a reprimanded pup. Sulking by Levi’s side, he refused to look at him or engage him in conversation, even when Levi took his hand. As they swam towards the cliff, Levi guided them through the sharp rocks expertly.  
  
Somewhere in Eren’s mind, despite his anxiousness, he couldn’t help but admire the way Levi twisted and turned to steer clear of the rocks, his strong tail pushing the water and smoothly sliding between the crags. The muscles that made up his back rippled with every turn and his hand reached out unconsciously to hold onto him. Levi gave no indication that he wasn’t fine with the gesture. Eren held on firmly.

As they approached the cliff face, Eren noticed a huge diagonal slash running all the way to bottom center of the cliff. It was here Levi took him through. The inside was a great, dark tunnel whose walls were eroded by the ocean and slippery to the touch. The waves crashed against them as though they were greatly offended by the two mers swimming through the passage.

They trod the water for quite some time, Levi’s one hand firmly clutching Eren’s just in case he tried to swim away – a wise precaution for Eren was actively fighting the impulse to scratch Levi and flee.

The fear of the mer community finding out about his existence had driven his mother to confine them to the shore and raise him there. Growing up, she had recalled all sorts of horrid stories about the wild merfolk who inhabited the deeper parts of the ocean. They were dangerous, brutal predators who killed and fought. An outsider like Eren was far from welcome among them and Erwin had emphasized on these points, further adding fuel to the fire.

And now he was here with one of them, being led to the very place his mother had tried to shield him from all his life. Eren choked down a bitter laugh. _I’m so stupid mum._

He could still run. Maybe somehow survive and reach the shore. It would take a miracle, but there was a chance of survival. However faint.

But, why did he trust the pale hand holding his so much? Why Levi?

Eren smacked into his back, unaware that Levi had stopped. They had arrived at the end of the tunnel, and there was nothing but emptiness; it was a dead end.

“Is this it?”

“Look down brat,”

Following his gaze, Eren bent over the edge and gasped as he found himself looking down at an expansive crevice so dark that he could barely make out the bottom. He instinctively backed a few paces and threw a glare at Levi who smirked back in amusement. Before he could fathom what he was getting into, Levi caught Eren by the tail. His shrieks and curses disregarded, he was firmly tucked away in the merman's arms and thrown into the abyss.

For some reason, Eren couldn’t scream. He was stunned into silence, the darkness and the eerie rush of their fall pressing against his ears. He folded them back, letting them lay flat on either side of his head. Levi tightened his hold on him and Eren realized they were probably going to land on something; he dug his claws into Levi’s back, preparing to hit the ocean bed or some rock-

They shot out from the bottom with a great splash; Eren could feel his body pressed against Levi’s. A wave of nausea greeted him and he clung to Levi harder to throw up on him. He wanted to chew Levi’s ears out for scaring him like that, if it hadn’t been for his own head which felt like as though someone  _was_  chewing it.

“LEVI!”

Eren gave a loud ‘oomph’ as something slammed into him and proceeded to break his back. He could make out frantic yelling and sobbing, murmurs as well as Levi’s own groans. Someone was trying to tug him away from Levi’s hold but Eren dug his claws into Levi’s arms and refused to budge. Levi seemed to be of the same opinion as he tightened his grip.

“WELL, FUCK ME WITH A STINGRAY! LEVI YOU’RE ALIVE!”

“ _Get the fuck back_ ,”

“Hanji, let him breathe!”

“OI, THAT IS MY FRIEND OVER THERE! HE HAS BEEN MISSING SINCE TWO WEEKS! TWO FUCKING WEEKS! LET ME AT HIM, LEVI HOW DARE YOU – wait, wait, wait, wait, is that a _MERMAN_?! LEVI, ARE YOU KIDDING ME, YOU FOUND HIM?! YOU FOUND WHAT WAS KILLING ALL THOSE MERS? A MERMAN! A FUCKING MERMAN – WHY DOES IT LOOK SO TINY LEVI?! LEVI –”

 “HANJI, SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Eren’s ears split themselves open as Levi roared into his ear. The hubbub ceased instantaneously as everyone in the vicinity fell silent. Not even a squeak came out.

“Fuck, can’t you restrain yourself  for once?” Levi scolded someone whom Eren couldn’t see, but gathered must be the mer screeching at them. He heard a sniff and a snort.

“You were gone for two fucking weeks. _Two fucking weeks._ I stayed on a diet of vlosse and seaweed because of you!”

“Not much different from your usual diet then,” Levi mumbled. “At least you actually remembered you have a stomach to fill,”

“Pfft, as if Moblit would let me forget. Worry about that later; Levi, who’s this? An injured merman? A mer who was about to be killed by the monster but you managed to save?” Eren felt a claw prod his back and he tensed up, his own claws applying pressure on Levi’s shoulders. He further retreated into Levi’s chest, not wanting to show himself to the others.

He was here. He was in the mer community. The one screaming mer had already fixed his opinion about them.

“He is not a merman,” Levi said quietly. Almost as if he was afraid of saying it.

Eren could feel the other mer – Hanji, get ready to explode. “He’s a _mermaid?”_

Levi hissed at her in annoyance before reluctantly nodding. “I came across him while on my little trip. He’s with me,” He announced the last part loudly enough for everyone to hear.

He felt himself being turned. Realizing Levi was trying to show him, Eren squirmed to further squish into Levi, but the raven had a firm grasp and Eren could do nothing but brace himself to face whatever was waiting in store. As he faced front with his back cushioned by Levi’s chest, he heard a sharp gasp. Eren opened his eyes.

About ten merfolk had gathered around them, the nearest being a mer with long hickory hair that floated around like palm tree leaves and a bright orange tail. She was quivering, from excitement or cold, Eren couldn’t tell. As he looked around, he saw many more mers, all mermen with big, burly physiques like Reiner. They were all staring at Eren like as though they had never seen a creature like him before and Eren’s tail coiled up, holding back the urge to swim away from the place as fast as he could. Levi squeezed his shoulders a bit too hard with his claws.

Finally, the brunette mer spoke and Eren realized it was Hanji; squealing with delight, the mer readied to pounce on him but stopped at the last second with a glance towards Levi. A grin spread on her face instead as she looked at Levi with glee.

“Levi~” she mused. “Who’s your  _friend_? Introduce him to us!”

Levi growled again and Eren knew he was giving Hanji one of his signature glowers. “Not _now_.”

“Pfft, come on!” Hanji darted forward excitedly and shoved her face into Eren’s, delirious brown eyes boring into his. Levi’s hold on Eren tightened uncomfortably when her smile suddenly turned into a frown.

“Levi, why isn’t he marked?” she asked.

Levi’s face turned murderous. “He hasn’t been claimed yet,” he said, teeth clenched. Eren twisted his nose at the unnaturally strong scent of salty breeze that hit his nose. The merman was seething. What was wrong?

Oblivious to his anger, Hanji clicked her tongue. “You’ve got to be kidding… I mean, with that tail and those eyes, he must have had at least fifty mermen fighting for him,” she winked.

Eren’s tail flicked at the praise unconsciously but he was far from flattered. An unexplainable tension lit the waters: everyone was stiff and cold save for Hanji, who seemed to be bursting with a hyper load of energy. She was the only one who seemed to welcome Eren and be happy about his presence.

Hoping to convey his unease to Levi, Eren gave a small wine that almost went undetected. Almost.

* * *

 

Levi understood immediately. Guilt-ridden and sympathetic, he tried to communicate with Hanji, who just tilted her head in confusion.

He had hoped to take Eren to his cave in secret; but of course, he had completely forgotten the troopers who were supposed to be guarding the entrance to the mer community. Hanji’s arrival though had been a blessing and Levi had never been more thankful for her existence for he knew that she would help him get Eren back to his cave.

But now that was ruined. She had drawn the other mers’ attention to Eren’s lack of marks.

They all knew that he was unclaimed now.

A mermaid could not enter a merman’s cave or home unless the mermaid had been claimed by its mate – a sacred rule amongst mers. Levi could no longer take Eren to his cave because the mermaid wasn’t his; Eren didn’t even know he was being courted in the first place.

Levi put as much venom into his face as he took in the other troopers; an unclaimed mermaid certainly meant trouble: the mermen would definitely fight for courting rights. And fuck, Hanji was right as usual: Eren’s tail and his eyes attracted too much attention – brightly colored mermaids were always a sign of good fertility and excellent companionship.  The beast in him roared as he registered the knowing glints in the eyes of some of the troopers. _He_ had found Eren first. There was no way that the merman would easily let go without deposing off any challengers.

But that meant fighting with the others and Levi knew neither he nor Eren was comfortable with the idea. The situation remained fine for now, but how much longer? How much longer until every merman without a mate came to know of a new mermaid in the community and decide to give it a try?

The only way to keep Eren safe from the other mermen would be to claim him for himself. And there was no fucking way Levi could do that without Eren’s permission.

The memory of Eren leaving him when he had tried to simply pin him down flashed in his head. Fighting for Eren would only further damage their bond. How could he explain to Eren that he was only doing it for his own safety? The poor brunet had been terrorized by Erwin fighting for him all his life and already expressed his strong distaste for mating.

_‘I’ve had had enough of mermen for a lifetime.’_

“Hanji,” Levi said suddenly, brain lit up. “Hanji, he’s hurt.” 

“Huh?”

“He got hurt on the way here,” Levi gestured to Eren’s perfectly fine arm, hidden from the others and visible only to Hanji. Understanding washed her eyes, thank nature, and she nodded.

“We can heal him in my cave. Moblit won’t mind. Come on,”

Eren beamed at once, relief flooding his face. He silently nudged his nose against Levi’s glands. _Thank you._

Ignoring how his stomach wriggled in joy, Levi nodded at the rest of the troopers curtly. “I’ll report my findings later; this mer needs tending to first.” Thankfully, they all let them pass and took up their usual positions at the entrance.

Once out of their sight, Eren broke free from his grip and let his tail unravel. He performed a delighted loop, testing out the waters. Levi smiled softly at the sight, relieved that he had gotten through safely. Eren must have been tremendously worried for he turned to Levi, eyes shining, and sped into him at once, arms thrown around his neck.

“Le –”

“I promised your safety. I intend to keep it.”  Levi swore solemnly, cupping his cheeks. “Eren, this place is far safer for you than the shore. Trust me.”

Hesitancy laced the scent that Eren’s glands gave off. His tail stilled completely and didn’t twitch. Levi’s tail twirled around his, tugging him closer. Eyes pleaded for a chance to be trusted.

Eren gave him the chance, untying the knots his stomach had gotten itself into. Levi sighed, feeling tons lighter. “You won’t regret this,”

“Oi,” 

Hanji’s smug smirk and the evil glint in her eyes foretold trouble. A lot of trouble that Levi didn’t have the strength for dealing with at the moment. They had been living in caves and sleeping on the rough stone for days and Levi’s back was killing him. He wanted to sleep in the fine moss nest in his cave and if possible, nurse Eren himself to gain better courting points.

“Hanji. Cave.”

“Mmhm. You’re the ones causing the delay. By the way, Levi never introduced me, did he?” Hanji swam forward, butting her head with Eren’s as a greeting. Eren looked surprised when she withdrew, the expression stabbing Levi with pity; Eren couldn’t have had too many friends for him to be this bewildered about something as simple as headbutting, which was a very common way for merfolk to greet each other.

“Levi is a rude old manatee. I wouldn’t put it past him to have shown you the same treatment; my name is Hanji,”

“She’s a close companion of mine since I was a pup,” Levi told Eren. Then he added, “She has constantly terrorized me throughout my life,” 

Hanji waved her hand. “Oh pfft. Ignore him, he exaggerates everything.” His eye roll earned a snicker. Eren seemed fascinated by their exchange, curious eyes darting back and forth between them. Catching his gaze, Hanji asked kindly, “What should I call you?”

“Eren.”

“Your tail is lovely Eren,” 

Eren floated awkwardly, neck coloring deeply. It might have been pitch-black at this depth of the ocean, but the extraordinarily sharp vision that mers were blessed with enabled them to see clearly. Not to mention, the crags and adjoining faces of the cliff walls bore pellucid blue crystals that shone and lit their path.

Hanji engaged Eren in conversation and the mermaid soon opened up to her, his tail once again swishing with enthusiasm. Despite his questions and confusion as to why Eren didn’t want to be brought here, Eren’s bright face pushed away his doubts to a less significant part of his mind and he decided to focus on making Eren at home in the community for now.

Merfolk darted past them, their variegated tail coruscating lowly in the blue light that the crystals cast down on them all. Seaweed grew around some rocks, their tendrils twisting and climbing their way up to the top where shoals of fish floated about, feeding. The crags inside and on the other side of the cliff face were rounded and smooth, reducing the risk of injury and enabling mers to zoom past at high speed. Some waved at Hanji and she waved back while Eren received curious stares. Observing Eren’s shoulders palpably tense, Levi swam over to him and brushed his knuckles lightly with the sides of his claws. Eren’s hair caressed his cheek when he turned around.

“I’m right here,” Levi murmured.

Eren nodded. “It’s just… I’ve never seen _so many_ mers before… it’s always been me and mum, and later… Erwin,”

“They’re just curious. Every mer knows each other here. It’s a pretty small community,”

“Oh, that reminds me –” Hanji snapped her fingers at Eren to get his attention. “Which community are you from?”

Levi could _taste_ Eren’s confusion. He looked comically lost as Hanji gazed at him imploringly.

“I… I’m from the shore,” he mumbled, fidgeting with his fingers.

“The shore?” Hanji frowned at him. “All the way from _there_? What – Levi?!” she exclaimed, accusing eyes set on him. “What – the shore?!”

“He likes the beach,”

“But! The shore is dangerous right now!” she put her hands on her hips. “Don’t tell me you ventured out there all by yourself! Your parents –”

“I don’t have any,” Eren’s voice was so quiet, it barely came out.

Hanji's frown only deepened. “Alright, but –”

“Hanji,” Levi interrupted, throwing her a warning glance. “Let him be.”  

She didn’t, opening her mouth to argue some more. One glance at Eren's subdued air however effectively shut her up. She sighed, flashing Levi a look that said _‘you better explain later’_ and swam ahead with her orange tail fluttering and leaving ripples in her wake.

Noting Eren’s slumped shoulders, Levi raised his tail and prodded the tip of his fins into Eren’s navel. The latter squealed and swam back, the color specks scattered on his shoulders lit flamboyantly. He raised his own tail to imitate Levi but missed, the fins slapping Levi’s cheek instead. The mermaid laughed and a sudden idea lodged in Levi’s head.

“Hanji’s cave is not far from here.”  He pointed a single finger in the direction she had swum away in. “If you keep going straight, you’ll eventually reach a misshapen pile of rocks. That’s her home,”

“Ok, so?”

Levi raised his brows suggestively. “Race me till there?”

A grin slowly broke out on Eren’s face. “Alright, merman.”

Eren beat his tail and with one powerful thrust, already whooshed ahead. Levi followed him closely behind, one hand reaching out for his fins. Eren exclaimed in surprise, looking back to see Levi tugging on his fins.

“Hey, you’re cheating!”

“Nope.” Levi extended another arm and lunged at Eren who danced away from his reach. Realizing this was more of a chase than a race, his grin widened. He twirled around, displaying his tail before fleeing away. Levi couldn’t help but grin too and he pursued the brunet, chasing him through the seaweed and darting past fishes and eels, starfishes and seahorses, past small crystals and surprised merfolk, past rocks and caves, trying to catch him. Surprisingly fast, Eren’s nimble body twisted and swirled around obstacles as he raced around. The merfolk stopped in their tracks to watch him soar gracefully above them, twirling and skipping, the kaleidoscope that was his color specks twinkling on the spectators below. Every time Levi came too close, Eren sloshed the water at him or swatted at his face with his tail and would set off again, laughing. Levi’s ears pricked up at the mellifluous sound, the colors on his shoulders gleaming at his excitement. The beam Eren gave him as he turned around dulled the blue crystals. The beast within rumbled, urging Levi to show his capabilities to this beautiful mer.

Hanji often teased he was a show-off. Well, now was the time to put the teasing to light.

Levi rolled over, the powerful tail muscles doing their work effectively. He flicked his tail with all the force he could muster and rushed forward with terrifying velocity. Eren only just managed to spring out of the way. Twisting his tail again, Levi flipped and attempted to wrap it around Eren’s waist. He slipped away again, chortling. Levi thrust forward.

To any other mer on the sight, it would have appeared that they were both dancing in the water. Their tails slid and glided, fins playfully tickling the other’s nose. Turquoise scales teased midnight blue ones, viridian eyes challenged stormy greys. Levi tried to catch Eren, upside down while the mermaid wriggled and turned to escape the clutches of his claws. He sped towards rocks to evade him but Levi soared above him, blocking his path. The beginnings of exhaustion were setting into Eren’s face but he nevertheless pushed ahead.

Levi put on a sudden burst of speed, determined to catch him before they reached Hanji’s cave. They were almost there; he could see the outline of dark and smooth rock in the distance and chased Eren to it. When he reached for him, Eren jerked away again.   
Until he backed a few paces and his back rested against a smooth stone enclosure.

Head turned back in alarm but it was the end of the trail for him. As Levi approached him, his predatory instincts closing in on him, he made out the exact second when Eren arrived at the conclusion he was trapped.

Eren straightened himself, smiling victoriously. “I won merman,” he declared confidently.

“True. But I wasn’t really racing you,”

“Whatever you call it; I arrived here first.”

Levi swam to him. “A lot faster than I thought,” he admitted.

Pride flushed the mermaid’s cheeks. “I used to race dolphins back at the shore,”

“Mhmm,” was all Levi said as he closed in on his prey. Faltering, Eren made to move sideways but was instead trapped between the stone and Levi, who pressed himself against him. Panting hard from their little chase, Levi felt his breath in loud puffs as he pressed Eren harder against the stone.

“Hanji..?” Eren craned his neck to see behind, but Levi’s eyes were trained only on him. _Claim. Mark._

“She’ll come,”

Levi bent forward and positioned his mouth near Eren’s neck. His gill slits were pulsing and so were the delectable glands of his. Sweet lily caked around his nose, the mind-boggling aroma sending sparks to his slit. Levi opened his mouth and his tongue darted out, traveling all over the brunet’s neck and glands. The mermaid shuddered beneath him.

Sweet. So, so _sweet._ Fresh dew drops right after a spell of rain. The earth right after quenching the first heavenly showers thirstily.

Eren huffed, breath fogging Levi’s mind. Pushing closer, Levi pressed his stomach against Eren’s, rubbing them together – a sign of deep desire. Mers didn’t just rub their bellies together with anyone; only their chosen were given such treatment.

Perhaps truly realizing the intimacy of what Levi was up to, Eren’s pupils expanded rapidly, breath coming up in short, sharp gasps. Flattening him on the rock, a chain reaction took place in both mers – their grinding stomachs set Levi’s inner beast up in flames, rumbling in approval which in turn prompted Eren to purr back. Flesh on flesh, tongue on gills and glands, sticky, sticky, sticky pheromones everywhere, their scents tainting the aqua –

Levi growled; his serrated teeth were slick with Eren’s pheromones as the viscous liquid seeped out from his glands and color specks. Eren mewed for the merman’s attention and that was when Levi let the gates of recklessness throw themselves open – thought driven from the mind, he poised to strike, to sink his teeth in – _claim_ him, _bite_ him, _mark_ him –

“No,”

_No?_

“Levi…” Eren gasped, clawing at his neck. “Levi, please – no, I don’t –” he spluttered. “I don’t want!”

His words choked him back. Levi felt like he had been hit with a boulder.

 _Rejection._ He was being rejected. Eren didn’t want him.

 _No, no, no –_ the words echoed in his head, Levi’s world crumbling and crashing with every second the monosyllabic sound was uttered. Hurt flared up in his chest and poisoned his veins, the bitter taste spreading throughout his system. His eyes were on fire – Levi blinked, startled that he was crying.

 _No._ He had failed. Levi slowly released Eren but stayed firm on their position, eyes refusing to leave the one mermaid – the only mermaid- who had ever made him feel to this extent. The only mermaid he had ever wanted to share his nest. _No._ He wasn’t wanted.

“N-Not yet,”

“Huh?”

Eren looked _terrified_. Pale as ice, trembling from head to fins, eyes wide and panicked, claws tightly dug into the stone – the pungent odor of terror replaced his scent of sweet lily. With a start, Levi realized Eren was crying too. “Not yet,” he whispered, pleaded. “Levi, I-I… no, please, give me time! I just don’t want to be marked – please, not now,”

Levi made to comfort him at once but the ocean denied him his chance.

“LEVI!”

Hanji came whirring out of nowhere, hair askew, eyes anxious as she took in Eren’s quivering form. “Eren! Oh my goodness, look at you!”  She was by his side, arms about to pull him close but Eren shook his head and steered away. “I’m sorry,” he hurriedly added, to him or Hanji, Levi didn’t know.

Hanji panted, clutching her side. “What happened to you both?! Did a jellyfish sting you or something?” she demanded but then stopped short as she saw their stature

“Oh,” Hanji said in a small voice.

Levi’s head pounded angrily. He didn’t want to think. He wanted to scream – ask Eren why he had been rejected, why Eren didn’t want him, shake him by the shoulders and–

“Levi." Hanji was speaking to him. Her voice sharp and stern. "Come inside,” she ordered and disappeared behind the rock. Eren looked apprehensive, but after a quick glance at him, he followed her.

Swallowing, there was not much Levi could do except go after him. 

Carved on its one side lay the entrance to Hanji’s cave. The inside was spacious and roomy, warm with much mossy outgrowth around that served as cushions, but Levi didn’t care. The blood pounded in his ears. He wanted to  _punch_ someone.

“Levi?” asked a timid voice. He turned around and gave the mer his best glare, only to find Eren’s face inches from his own. His fury subsided and pain took over.

 _Why?_ He had to _know_.

 “Are you alright?” Concerned eyes gazed at him.

“Huh?” 

“You… you hurt yourself when you were chasing me,” he pointed at his arm, where there was a gash with scarlet oozing out of it.

When had that happened?

As though reading his mind, Eren said, “You grazed yourself on a rock. Here,” Eren took Levi’s arm and ran his tongue over the wound, soaking up the blood, leaving a tingling sensation with each stroke of the pink muscle.

“Sorry, I’m not that good at healing,” he admitted, abashed.

 

Mind shambled with too many damn questions and his fucking instincts, Levi hardly noticed Hanji’s rambling. She pushed them both on a small piece of moss and tossed a couple of seaweed strands at them. Bringing in another fluffy plant, she set it on a small rock and started mashing it up into a thick green paste. Levi and Eren watched, afraid to talk.

She collected the liquid on a smooth stone that had a depression in its center. Giving it to Eren, she instructed, “Spread it over his wounds, then tie the weeds around it,”

“What is it?” Eren scooped a generous amount of the viscous sap and tenderly applied it to the gash. Levi winced as it burned into his flesh.

“The essence of vlosse,”

“Vlosse?”

“Vlosse,” Hanji affirmed. “A special type of weed that grows around corals; perfect for healing and treating wounds than mer saliva,”

Eren searched him for more injuries and came up with a few minor scratches. They didn’t stop him from gently smearing the salve over them. Tearing off bits of seaweeds with his teeth, he worked fast but efficiently. Levi let him, relishing the soft hands running over him. The sensation was gone too quickly for his taste however as Eren used up the last bit of weeds.

Levi looked up. Hanji was gone.

Eren must have been thinking along the same lines as he frowned. “She was right there,”

“She’ll come.”

Throat clogged and strained with the effort of breathing, Levi picked at a nearby discarded tendril. His hands were too clammy. He wanted to talk. He didn't know how to ask Eren, how to begin... whatever it was that he wanted to talk about. What would he say?  _Eren, how dare you not accept me as a mate even though I never told you I was courting you nor gained your approval? How could you do this to me?! I'm better than any of those damn other mers, do you want them instead?_ The words sounded so ridiculous in his head that he mentally slapped himself.

“Levi?”

“Hm?”

“… I’m sorry,”

Levi didn’t say anything. He sensed Eren’s nervous energy buzzing around him. Then, “I’m sorry too… shouldn’t have lost control,”

“I’m glad you stopped,”

Levi wasn’t. But... he was. It felt strange. “Do you… do you hate me?”

“No. No, what makes you think that?”

Levi laughed bitterly. He didn’t know what else to do. “You… you said ‘no’.”

“Yes… I did because - I don’t hate you, Levi. It’s not like that,”

“Then?” he kept his voice mild.

Eren sucked his breath. “…Erwin.”

_Oh shit._

How could he have been _so stupid?!_ Of course, Erwin had tried to do the same. Of course, he had lashed out and reacted violently. Of course, Eren was terrified of a second Erwin.

_Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID!_

“Eren,” he breathed, chest relieving at once. “Oh Eren, I’m so sorry –”

“You stopped,” Eren said those words dazedly. As though he had trouble comprehending that had actually happened. “You stopped when I asked you to.” Tears glistened in his eyes. “I thought –”

“Never.” Levi pulled him into his arms, cradling Eren in between. He was so happy _;_ so relieved. Eren didn’t hate him! Sure he had said no, but it wasn’t because he hated him or didn’t want him – no, because Eren was afraid. Afraid and in need of someone – a good someone who could show him what it meant to truly be a better half of a whole. “I will _never_ do anything that will make you regret placing your trust in me,”

“I don’t. I don’t regret it,”

“Eren, slap me if I do something that will remind you of him,”

Eren chuckled, eyes slowly lighting up. “There’s no need.”

His mind felt so light, he was almost flying. But then Eren’s words struck him again and he came crashing down, dropped straight back into the ocean and bounced off a rock. _No._ He had still said no.

Wait…

_Not yet._

“Levi,” Eren nudged him for his attention. “Are you angry with me?”

“No,” came the quick reply.  Why should he be? It was Eren and Eren’s choice alone. He didn’t want to be marked. Levi would never force him. No, not after what happened to his mother. Eren deserved so much better than that.

_Not yet._

Levi had waited so _long_ for a mate. So many years alone, so many trips to that crystal cave, wondering when he would finally bring in another mer to share his secret and bask in the cave’s light. And Eren was right here.

_Not yet._

He had waited so long... he could wait for some more. Show Eren what it meant to be loved and cherished. Show Eren that he was worth waiting for.

Lifting strands of dripping brown hair out of the way, Levi leaned forward and butted their heads together. Eren’s sigh encouraging him, he pressed his lips to the temple. “Is this alright?”

“Yes." the answer drifted to him at once. "Yes please,”

Levi obliged. His lips moved, following a new path as they traced cheeks, neck, and collarbones. Eren didn’t say anything at all but didn’t voice any discomfort either. A hum of approval had Levi’s stomach wobbling like a jellyfish. A breeze of sweet lily praised him.

Lips placed themselves on the tip of the nose. Smiling at the adorable giggle that left Eren, he opened his eyes. They were so close. Eren was so warm. So very warm. So soft.

A hand trailed up the seaweed bound around his cut. It still stung, but the squeeze he received drove the pain away. For now.

So gentle.

Levi brought his face lower, breathing on the other’s lips. So close. Eren gazed right into him, firm and steady. Eyes never wavering. Strong and determined.

“Can I do this?” their lips were almost on each other. But Levi waited.

“As many times as you want,”

It was Eren who leaned in to close the gap between them, eyes fluttering shut. Weaving his fingers through Levi’s hair, fingers combing the wet locks, his kiss was careful. Nothing more than their lips touching. Once Levi pushed the mermaid down on the moss, it turned into more. Completely closing his mouth on Eren’s, Levi laid on top of him, obscuring him from the world as exhaustion took over both mers and sleep cradled them in her arms.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A sincere and heartfelt thank you to every wonderful angel who took the time and effort to read my fic! It makes me so happy that my fic is getting this attention! Thank you and happy ereri-ing!  
> Your kudos, comments, criticisms and questions are always welcome and appreciated, so please feel free to write your heart out! <3


	9. Sating Desires

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slight smut with a pinch of angst and Eren's past.

Wave upon wave slapped his tail in friendly greeting. Maneuvering about the jagged crags that concealed his wonderful secret, Levi glanced back to check on how the mermaid was holding up.

Curious eyes flickered back to him. Brown strands floating in the depths like fuzzy seaweeds, Eren pushed forward to catch up to him. Effortlessly sliding through the rocks that failed in their efforts to keep him at bay, the mermaid scuttled over, his colors flashing vibrantly.

Levi guided them, head turning back periodically to see if Eren was keeping up without problems. A few minutes of swimming took them to their goal – a dark cave, the wonders it possessed within unknown to anyone but Levi. In his eager haste, he positively shoved the mermaid inside, ignoring the reprimanding whine.

The narrow channel dimly lit by an ethereal glow sent excitement scrambling through every vein of his. Green tail swished energetically as Eren trod the water, yearning to find the source of the light. When they entered the inner chamber, the sweet taste of victory thudded in his heart at the sound of Eren’s gasp.

Levi closed in on the mermaid, hands tightly embracing him while Eren gaped at his gift – the crystals growing out of the walls swirled around him and bathed him in their soft glow, his eyes for once dimmed by the brilliance of the light. Levi pushed his nose into Eren’s neck, heavily sniffing and inhaling the drug-like aroma that his scent glands produced.

 _So warm._ Levi nuzzled into him harder, tongue darting out daringly to swipe a taste. Delighted at the shudder Eren gave in response, Levi set his tongue to the area and thoroughly covered it. _Oh, so sweet._

Eren’s hair teased him, the mermaid squirming in his hold to turn around. Facing each other, he too mirrored Levi’s actions. Pink tongue lapped up the pheromones that Levi’s glands produced, coaxing out a happy grunt. Eren’s scent embodied joy as he rubbed his nose over every inch of Levi’s neck and face with delightful trills and chirps. _So soft._

Levi knotted their tails together, refusing to let go. With every lick, Eren’s taste refreshed his mind – dewdrops after a night of rain left on cold leaves.   

Something pressed against his slit.

Eyes flew open at once, blinking frantically at the sudden darkness. Noting that he was breathing heavily, Levi steadied himself. He looked around, tired eyes making out the outline and rough texture of rock. How did he get here?

His mind replayed earlier memories – splashing into the community, racing around with Eren, his fervent desire to mark him – Eren’s panic and later, his acceptance –

 _Oh…_  he was in Hanji’s cave.

Fuck, so all that had been a dream? Levi swallowed, tongue heavy and bitter. What wretched thing had been so cruel to wake him up?

A small whine answered his question. Looking down for the source, Levi found the mermaid asleep right next to his tail, tucked into a tiny ball while his fins lazily waved at him. He didn’t attempt to fight the smile that rapidly sneaked across his face. Laying back on the soft moss, he turned Eren’s face towards him. Only then did he spot the thick drool coated across Eren’s gills and glands.

He flushed. Whoops.

Untying the seaweed Eren had used to cover up the gash on his arm, Levi cleaned his mess. Once uncovered, the gills expanded. Discarding the plant, he sighed and settled back on the moss with Eren. Claws found fluffy locks and carefully brushed them back to uncover more of that coy face drowned in peaceful sleep. Levi curled his tail around them both and pressed his nose to those scent glands. He inhaled a generous draft.

Not remotely trying to resist the calls of his inner beast, his lips found smooth skin and trailed along to wherever it wished. Across his collarbones and shoulders, down his arms – Eren didn’t want to be marked until he was ready and Levi respected his decision. But Eren did give him permission to engage in simple contact as this; he wanted to make the most of it. After all, he was still courting Eren.

Levi gently pried his arms out of the way to better pamper his neck. Eren didn’t give in easily, complaining mews and grunts voicing his disapproval at the disturbance. Ultimately Levi won.  
Chuckling at the scrunched up face, he surveyed Eren’s colors in interest. The irregularly scattered scale-like structures on his shoulders and chest were the source of his taste.

Levi wondered whether Eren liked how _he_ tasted. What did he even taste like?

Following the trail of scales, Levi’s attention was immediately grabbed by the two small lumps of flesh protruding from the rising and falling chest. Heat crept up his neck, red as a horseshoe crab.  
Should he turn away? Probably. Did he turn away? No.

This was perfectly normal. Eren was a mature mermaid after all.

Levi swallowed, claws tingling. Pushing the warning signals to the darkest corner of his mind, he prodded them with his knuckles and waited for Eren to wake up and chew his head off.

Apart from the sounds of breathing – one steady, the other ragged – silence plunged the cave.

Feeling very much like he was about to pull the fins of a sleeping shark, Levi pressed his cheek to a breast.

One thing Levi had never really understood was mermen and their fascination with their mates’ breasts. Farlan had always coddled Isabel, nuzzling into her chest and fondling her breasts. Though she had never complained or seemed offended by his actions (even going as far as to demand it), Levi had to slam his hands under a rock to prevent them from tearing Farlan away from her. Cuddling was one of the main fundamentals of a mer’s life and mated mers engaged in it frequently. Even courting mers showed their affections by simple touches and reassuring squeezes or wrapped tails. Levi felt like an outsider.

 _Now_ he understood.

He squished his cheeks against the flesh, rubbing vigorously. A delighted rumble started in his chest that had his whole body vibrating and even his tail flapped with newfound energy. _Oooh,_ this was _new_.

Levi decided he liked it.

To add to his felicity, Eren began to purr as well. Flushed with pride that he was making Eren happy, Levi didn’t stop with his efforts and rubbed their chests together, groaning at the blessed sensation that made his fins curl and the way Eren quivered beneath him. Eren’s tail searched for his and then knotted them up together.  
Fueled by a new idea, Levi placed his hands on the breasts and gave them an experimental squeeze.

The mermaid whined indignantly.

Levi decided he loved it.

He brushed his lips over the tender flesh, taking care to avoid leaving marks of any kind. Eren’s breath lost its rhythm and grew irregular, belly heaving while Levi assaulted his bosom with more kisses and licks, feeling it grow wetter and wetter under his care. A sudden sweetness plagued his tongue out of the blue and he frowned; this wasn’t the taste of Eren’s colors. What – he pulled back in alarm; had he accidentally drawn blood? But it didn’t taste like blood –

Levi looked down, freezing as he saw the white liquid trickle gently from a glistening nipple.

Mouth agape stupidly and staring down at the tantalizing sight, more warning signals flashed in his mind when every nerve in his body simultaneously prickled and his scent grew stronger. Levi shuddered, temporarily stunned – what should he do next?

The mermaid squirmed restlessly, his tail rippling against Levi’s and sending more invitations to his own slit. To Levi’s horror, the invitation was accepted and his cock began to swell swiftly. He gasped as his member grew alarmingly hard and pressed against Eren’s hole.

 _Oh fuck. Fuck. Fuck!_ This wasn’t what he had intended!

Mind a tangle of lust and panic, Levi’s urge to moan loudly almost choked him as he beat it down his throat. No, no, no, no. This wasn’t happening! Levi tried to pull away, he really did; but their tails were tied together so stubbornly that no amount of tugging helped. _Shit!_

“Eren…” he wheezed, butting their heads to wake him up. “Eren, get _up_ ,”

_Mark! Bite! Mate!_

Mark… mark Eren… yes, mark him and claim him – NO! Eren didn’t want to be marked! Eren said no!

_Mark him, you stupid merman!_

Levi groaned in frustration. He would _not._

The voice inside pounded relentlessly, filling him with lewd fantasies that he shamelessly chose to view. Rationality be damned, he couldn’t make out anything except the mermaid below – perfectly ready to be claimed and marked. Fuck this!

In one desperate attempt to ground him before he did something stupid, Levi plunged his nose into Eren’s neck, inhaling copious amounts of sweet lily to help clear his fogged head. If anything, it worsened the glut and he moaned, dragging his face all the way down. Amidst all this, Eren still happened to be deeply asleep.

How the _fuck_ was he still asleep?!

“Eren,” he grunted, his fins flapping noisily. He whistled loudly to get the mermaid’s attention, suppressing another carnal urge to sink his teeth into the warm flesh. Eren’s eyes merely twitched.

Growling, Levi gripped Eren’s hips. If he had to wake him up the hard way, he would wake him up the hard way. Excitement and grim determination rushed through his head as he once again found the mermaid’s breasts and eyed the thin stream of liquid pouring from them. Opening wide, Levi engulfed the entire lump into his mouth and sucked hard.

Euphoria like never before clouded his mind as the sweet liquid gushed into his mouth, and he drank it all in. Hot but bearable, he bit the flesh like a beast that could not be sated; his tongue running rampant, it lapped up most of the fluid and he sucked for more, completely losing himself in the ecstasy of it all – so _this_ was what it tasted like, Levi thought in wonder.

He couldn’t believe it – this was what he and Mikasa had been stripped of their entire life, a punishment for the circumstances of their birth…

His goal to wake Eren up completely forgotten in the newfound discovery, Levi drank instead. Every lick, every gulp led to a second one and he demanded more and more, his desires whispering in his ears, begging him to sate them –

“Levi! LEVI!”

The merman halted at once, head jerking up to see a welcome sight: Eren wide awake and staring at him with his big eyes. Though he ought to have been relieved that his plan had worked, Levi found himself being more annoyed at the interruption. The beginnings of a growl were about to escape his mouth when sense slapped him abruptly into the present and cleared his head.

Levi suddenly became aware of the milk dribbling down his front and his length poking Eren uncomfortably.

They stared for a while, immobilized in their ridiculous position. Eren, at a loss for words or expression, opened his mouth and shut it like a gawking goldfish.

After an eternity, Levi broke the ice. “Oh, _now_ you wake up. Shitty morning to you too,” He grumbled, wiping his chin.

“What – I… this… Levi, are you – what were you trying to do?!”

Levi pointed at their conjoined tails. “Untying that. It led to other consequences.”

It was a very flustered and nervous Eren who pushed Levi off him. They both rolled aside, tails wriggling as Eren worked to free them. When they were no longer confined, Eren took a shaky breath and hurriedly checked himself.

“I didn’t mark you Eren,” Levi assured him at once. He knew what dreadful thought the brunet had immediately jumped to.

Shoulders sagging with visible relief, Eren sighed. “Oh good.” Then his gaze turned stern within a fraction of a second. Fixing Levi with a mildly threatening glare, he demanded, “What were you thinking?!”

“I was trying to wake you up, but you snore like a damn whale.”

“I don’t snore,”

“Good for you. I just… we were snuggling and then your tail wrapped around mine. It wasn’t a problem until you moved.”

“What happened when I moved?”

Levi sighed. How could Eren ramble on and on about the human world yet fail to understand their customs? Had cutting him off from society really damaged his knowledge about the merfolk to this extent?

If he didn’t have a basic clue about mers and their courting customs, it would lead him to serious trouble. Taking him by the arms and scooting closer, Levi brushed his knuckles over Eren’s cheek. “There are certain actions that hold different depths of meaning to mers,” he explained. “Like this for instance –” Levi butted their heads together, concealing a smile at the baffled face the other wore. “It is how most mers greet each other.”

“So that’s why Hanji…” he trailed off, understanding.

“It is our way of saying ‘how are you’,”

Eren worked on his lip, processing this new information. “What other gestures do you use?”

Leaning close until his nose ghosted over the scent glands that enticed him so much, Levi placed a tender kiss there. “This is to say, ‘I am interested in you’,”

Cheeks ablaze, Eren touched the spot, feeling for it as though he was unsure. Eyes fixated on his, firm and never looking away. Levi’s cock twitched behind his protective pouch.

“What other ways do you have for saying that you are interested in another mer?” Eren looked at him expectantly.

Taking in his flushed face and eager to learn expression, Levi closed one arm around his waist, claws never once leaving a single scratch on the skin. Lulling him inside, lips found their way to his temple and continued all the way down to his nose where Levi planted a lick, much to the brunet’s amusement. “That’s one way. Then you have this –” he dug his nose into soft, earthen hair. Nudging and combing the strands apart with claws. “– And this –” he demonstrated with his lips on Eren’s ear, quickly stealing a taste of the shell and nibbling on the edge. All the while, his claws played on the smooth belly, tracing little circles round and round and round into the skin. When a snort burst from Eren’s mouth, revealing his weak spot, Levi prodded him there and earned a cute squeal.

“Anything else?” Shining eyes bore into his, so full of wonder, full of light that Levi could do naught but gently push Eren back down on the moss they were sitting on. Climbing atop him, he moistened his lips and slowly brought their bellies together. They met in a languid swaying motion, soft stomach brushing over a scarred one. His slit, heavy with his hardening cock, skimmed over Eren’s opening while glands slyly worked to flood his partner with pheromones that eliminated all thoughts from Eren’s mind save for the merman.

Eren didn’t need Levi to tell what this type of contact meant.

An ever-expanding pool of black consumed both pairs of eyes, trained on each other unblinkingly. The next second, his lips were on Eren’s, rolling and sliding on top of each other punctuated by low moans and wet smacks. Eren’s hands were all over his back, scurrying like frightened cuttlefish. His little claws found Levi’s hair and wasted no time in making themselves home, twisting the strands between fingers and kneading the scalp. Levi had his hands busy too – busy squeezing and pressing into the slim waist as they explored the scales that fused with flesh to form his tail. Each and every sound that tumbled out of Eren – a lewd moan, sharp gasp or delighted mewls – Levi devoured them all hungrily as though they were the only necessities that could sustain him.

“Wait,” Eren’s whisper jerked him to a stop, confusion lacing his thoughts. Didn’t Eren like this treatment either? Had he gone too far?

Apparently not, because Eren’s scent didn’t reveal any hints of apprehension or reluctance. But he did want it to stop, so Levi half-heartedly rolled off him, disappointed.

He frowned when Eren climbed atop him instead, gazing into the merman’s eyes with such intensity like he would never get to see him ever again. His slit reminded him again that it needed his attention, the call to _do something_ whirling in the pit of his stomach like a blazing pool. It didn’t help matters that Eren directed his gaze to Levi's crotch. A second later, a violent shudder seized Levi when cool knuckles brushed past the scales that defended his slit.

“…Eren?” Levi rasped, not daring to breathe.

Levi bit back a groan as Eren’s fingers repeatedly stroked the narrow line behind which his hyper-sensitized cock cried for some care. Fins curling and opening, his tail twitching in agony, every muscle in his body stretched uncomfortably taut and desperate for some action, Levi grabbed Eren by the hips, squeezing it for help.

And help he did receive, for with a triumphant smile, Eren parted the tight opening and entered a finger inside smoothly, aided by the slick that oozed out of his hole. Levi writhed in his hold, eyes shut tight as wave after wave of heat rippled through him and chest grunted with the effort of breathing. Boiling spikes of desire impaled him everywhere, screaming their want.

Eren was _too slow._

Fins shot up straight and Levi gasped sharply as ice-cold water hit his cock. It was out, free of the cage that contained it and fully on display. Eyes fluttering open to see Eren’s reaction, Levi knew for sure not even horseshoe crabs came in a color as red as those plump cheeks.

Eren studied it, an unnatural glint lighting his eyes. Vulnerable and unprotected as it lay hanging outside his protective pouch, he ran a finger up it, tracing his route all the way back to where it merged with the scales and Levi threw his head back on the moss, baring his neck. _Give me more,_ he begged with a rough press on Eren’s hips.

 With a glance at Levi, Eren wrapped his hand around it and gave a squeeze.

A guttural moan tore out from his throat, choking him. Eyes shut tight and hands grabbed Eren’s shoulders. With every stroke, every teasing caress, Eren challenged him to reign in his moans and quivers, to restrain his carnal urge to jump on the mermaid and pin him down and _bite_ –   

Using Levi’s tactics against him, Eren bent low and their chests connected as he rubbed them over each other, purring, which in turn prompted Levi to imitate him without second thoughts. His hands abandoned their perch and scrambled up to lose themselves among messy hair strands as Eren continued to rub their bellies in slow, steamy rings. Levi shivered and twisted.  _Sweet mother earth, yes._

“Keep going,” Levi said, already coming short of breath while Eren’s assault on his length grew wilder. Eren slid his lips on Levi’s in a heated frenzy and ground them forcefully, rolling onto each other. Not to be outdone, Levi caught the mermaid’s lower lip and pushed his tongue against it, pressuring him to open his mouth. Would Eren taste like dew drops in there too?

Surprised, Eren opened up for him and Levi entered, determined to at least mark this part of him. While his tongue explored Eren’s mouth, Eren’s minstrels on his cock took up a more interesting route. He pinched the tip and their mouths came apart at once, saliva trickling down their chins.

“I’m sorry –” Eren began, but Levi cut him short. “Don’t stop,” he ordered.

A light crease formed between Eren’s brows and despite the overwhelming amount of need that pulsed in him, Levi’s heart swelled to ten times its size when he realized the brunet was concerned if he was hurting Levi or causing him discomfort. As if Eren could ever bring him discomfort.

“ _Hurry,_ ” Air came out of his mouth instead of words.

Nodding and bending over, he dragged his lips all around Levi’s navel, leaving a sticky trail of saliva while Levi clung on to Eren’s hair, trembling. Eren went further south, tongue coating his cock and wrapping it in his slick, slippery heat. Levi was on _fire_ and if Eren didn’t do something now, he would burst.

Eren took in Levi’s cock and Levi _screamed_.

He wasn’t aware of anything; only Eren, sweet, beautiful Eren sucking him off, spoiling him and making him cry out in pleasure. Levi’s fins extended themselves and claws coiled about his hair. Pulling for support, his hips bucked into the mermaid’s mouth with a rough thrust. He pushed and pushed into Eren, holding his head firmly to ensure he didn’t pull away. Eren didn’t remotely attempt to; he choked and spluttered, but apart from that, greedily took in his pushes while purring deeply, the vibrations setting Levi off.

More and more heat whirled in his stomach and when Eren playfully scraped his teeth against him, Levi felt every muscle in his body stretch; his core boiled and his cock swelled painfully, his claws dug into Eren’s scalp, everything went white, he heard a shrill cry –

Levi plopped back on the moss heaving, gills searching for air. Warmth enveloped Levi like never before; he had never felt the warmth. Not since he was a pup.

He felt a weight collapse beside him. Eyes opened in alarm to find Eren coughing and struggling to breathe. Levi dragged himself closer at once, tail protesting at the movement.

“Hey,” he prodded Eren. “Are you alright?”

“Mm… mm, fine…”

“That was… new,”

Eren chuckled breathily. “You’ve never done that before?”

“No,” Levi admitted. “Nothing like this,”

“Was I good?”

“Not bad,”

It was Levi’s turn to chuckle, earning a well-deserved punch to his shoulder. Snuggling closer to him, Levi twined their tails together. He pushed stray strands of wet hair away from Eren’s face and licked his nose.

“… That means you’re interested in me,” Eren recalled their earlier conversation.

“Very much,”

“Why?”

“You’re interesting,”

“Hm,” he turned away and scooted closer until Levi’s chest stuck to his back. He didn’t talk for quite a while, prompting Levi to believe he was offended or angry. He sniffed at the air; Eren’s scent had a spicy undertone to it, so unlike his usual sweet lily… maybe it was because of the act?

“Eren,” Levi began hesitantly. When Eren hummed in reply, he pressed forward. “Why do you know so much about humans but not us? I know that you spent a major portion of your life at the shore but… why never come here?”

Silence. Levi once again sought answers from Eren’s scent but was met with a blank wall.

Then Eren took a deep breath and said, “My mother didn’t want me to,”

“Why?”

“She said mermen were dangerous and horrible. And with the way mermen tried to court me, I believed her,”

“Were you ever forced to… to bond with a mer?”

A deep sigh. “Erwin,”

“Him?” Levi sat up straight with a grunt, hastily checking Eren’s neck. Clear and unblemished.

“I didn’t let him,” Eren said, a hint of pride in his voice. “Never gave in. Bit and chopped off his tongue once. Slapped him with my tail, baited him into a shark’s cave – I did everything I could to remain unmarked and unbounded. He called me arrogant. I called it having a delicate and refined taste in mers,”

Levi found Eren’s wrist, his knuckles gliding over it in smooth assurance. “How did you meet him?”

“I… I was in a bad state. My first heat had begun and I had no clue on what to do; it was _horrible._ I was sick, feverish, couldn’t tell the difference between ocean and sand, _starving_ , cold, needed a home – emotionally, I was a mess and had no control over my feelings and had mood swings… and that’s when he came to me.”

“He came to you?”

“He found me, more like. All concerned and beautiful, dived into the water and returned with fish for me, fed me and kept me warm, let me stay in his cave… fed me again, joked and laughed, cuddled me…” His voice shook, about to break any second whilst Levi’s chest constricted with every word.

If he had just known… if he had met Eren sooner…

“I was weak Levi… I hate myself for it; I was weak and tired. I wanted comfort. I wanted someone to cry and talk to, someone who would just accept me for what I was and…” a small hiccup burst out, “I wanted a mate. A nice one. And Erwin was perfect. When he asked if he could mark me, I instantly agreed. I was elated, I had never been this happy before… and I wanted to be happy. So I took it.”

The beast inside raged and shrieked at the thought of Erwin and his stupid, horrible teeth anywhere near Eren’s skin. But Levi only felt bitterness wallow in him.

Eren had agreed to be marked by another merman. Eren had almost let him be marked by another merman.

He swallowed bile, pulling a face. No, if Eren had been marked, he wouldn’t be here, sleeping so close to Levi.

“What happened?”

“… Two mermen happened to pass by the shore that day; troopers like you… big and burly. One of them was blonde but I can’t remember the other one. Anyway, the other one saw me and courted me at once. The blonde mer didn’t do anything to me, but he did tease me a little. I didn’t mind it though. I simply told them that I was already being courted by Erwin, but the merman wasn’t too keen on the idea. He told me that he should get a fair chance to get me as well since I didn’t have any claim marks. I didn’t like how he referred to me as a prize to be won so I told him off… that was when Erwin arrived.

“I complained to Erwin and he scolded the mers at once for troubling me like that. The blonde one tried to restrain his friend but the argument with Erwin went out of control and they both agreed to fight for me. I told them to stop, but of course, they didn’t. So I sat quietly and thought maybe Erwin would just slap him and he’d run away crying.”

“But he didn’t.” Levi knew what must have happened. His body felt too numb, too cold.

“Erwin killed them both. Even the blonde one who hadn’t done anything,”

Fights amongst mermen for courting a mermaid was as common as krill in the mer community. It only went on for a few minutes, the worst case being over an hour; mermen only aimed to injure the other until they surrendered or were knocked out. A fight to the death was thankfully rare because losing mermen could at least court another mermaid if they surrendered. But this…

“Erwin ripped them apart in front of my eyes. I was furious and yelled at him, saying that I didn’t want to be marked by a monster like him anymore… that drew him over the edge. He changed. He turned possessive, hurt me every single day, bit and wounded me and tried to mark me but I didn’t give in. I didn’t want to become his object. I knew he wanted to break me. Cry and beg for mercy. But I was too full of spite for that. I was angry and that anger made me vow to never bow down to him. I would survive and live no matter what. I would kick, bite and slap him, do whatever it took to keep my dignity. I couldn’t escape from him though; he had a creepy and magical way of finding out wherever I was and stalked me wherever I went.”

Levi let him catch his breath and cling to him. One or two sniffs escaped, but that was all he got. Levi carefully felt his face, knuckles skimming over eyes, but didn’t find them wet.

“Levi… can I tell you something?”

“Mm,”

“When I first met you, I… he had tried to play his game with me again. And I was in the middle of my heat. That’s why… that’s why I so readily accepted to help you. Levi, you didn’t hurt me or try anything dubious, even though I was in heat during that time… you were strong, quiet but still a good companion, you were nice to me, you listened to me when I ranted about humans and helped me find shells and warmed me during nights in those caves… I stuck by you, hoping that you would temporarily fend off Erwin. I’m sorry for using you like that Levi,”

Levi turned Eren aside to face him, hands cupping his cheeks. “No,” he assured firmly. “You weren’t using me. Some fucker was stalking you and I am glad that you had the confidence to seek safety from me. Besides, I enjoyed your company too. I never got the honor of being supplied with such fine quality entertainment that you gave me,”

“Entertainment? How?”

“You blow up like a puffer fish when you are angry. Quite the majestic sight,”

 Eren whacked him on the head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not know how to write a mermaid giving a merman a blow job. Dear lord, aid this poor soul.  
> Anyways, thank you wonderful angels for reading my fic! As usual, your comments, criticisms and questions are highly valued as are your kudos. Thank you :D


	10. The Mer Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren decides to secretly leave but meets Mikasa and Armin instead.

_Sweet little fool._

Eren didn’t look. Didn’t listen.

_Do you think Levi will be better than me? I protected you, I cared for you, I’ve always delivered your needs. Eren, I am the only one who knows you._

_Do you think you can run away?_

Eren had never hated the color blue this much. Erwin’s eyes: so cold, so cruel, so knowing.

_Do you think they’ll let you stay?_

No.

 _Do you think_ he’ll _love you for what you are?_

Eren had never won against his tears. Stupid, stupid tears. How weak they made him feel…

**_I’m interested in you. Very much_.**

When Eren turned, he was there, waiting. Waiting with his beautiful midnight tail, his beautiful smile and arms that held him tight, his whispered reassurances the most beautiful sounds Eren had ever heard.

And Eren believed those lies.

* * *

When Eren woke up, he was there, asleep.

For the first time since they had met, Eren got to see Levi at his most vulnerable. Dark strands floated above his head and Eren’s fingers were drawn to them of their own accord. He tried to grab the swimming locks but they teased him and swam away from reach, sliding between his fingers. Shaking his head with a smile, his fingers settled on a new target.

How could a predator, with teeth and claws more serrated than needles, fins that could slice sharks in neat halves, a tail that could squeeze the life out of any creature unfortunate enough to get tangled in its grip, with hunting skills so sharp that it could even bring down a whale without effort, be this angelic in sleep? Eren’s fingers mapped his face, determined to commit every inch to his memory. Long lashes, deathly pale skin, thin lips that sometimes blessed the world with a smile – a predator indeed.

Levi mumbled something, his ears twitching rapidly. Eren barely concealed his snort.

How? How had he made the same mistake twice?

First Erwin and now Levi. Hadn’t he learned already? Wasn’t one year of terror and torture enough?

 _But,_ hope supplied, _what if Levi turned out to be different?_

Levi who had respectfully given in to Eren’s wishes and refrained himself… Levi who had never sought after him like an object but merely showered Eren in affection that he didn’t deserve in the slightest…

Eren placed a kiss on his cheek. Could he… he was so tired of searching for caves to hide in, to be on the constant lookout for Erwin, to never have a single day for himself…

He could stay here with Levi. Nobody knew about him, did they? His secret was safe; he simply had to pretend like one of them. He could even be happy here in time, and his selfish heart longed to spend every second he had with Levi – to keep kissing him, cuddle him, joke and laugh with him, to scare fish with him and explore the depths of the aqua for shells with him. He wanted to hear how much he was loved, how he’d never be hurt again, how he would always have a home…

Levi made him feel like as though he was nothing, but also everything; Eren wasn’t used to the type of attention and affection Levi showed him. Erwin came next to nothing when compared with the type of care he received from Levi; Erwin never raced with him in the water nor did he curl up so closely with him. Levi was so warm but so cool. So dangerous, but so beautiful… so out of reach for someone like Eren.

 _Stay_ , hope supplied.

Stay in his bubble of lies and deceit. Stay in his bubble of cowardice.

What good would staying with Levi do when he had to lie to him every second? Levi deserved so much better.

 _Not me_ , Eren thought glumly. The familiar lump wedged itself in his throat as wet streaks ran down his face. _Not me._

Return to the shore where he belonged. Return back to Erwin. A small price to pay in exchange for Levi’s safety and the mer community as a whole.  
  
Eren carefully detangled himself from the merman, whose arms were still tightly twisted around him. How the hell had he managed to breathe? Levi barely budged, his grunt of disapproval making Eren pause for a second. He waited to see whether Levi would wake up. He didn’t.

Eren slowly continued to extract himself from Levi. He huffed as he finally pushed Levi’s arm away. It was so _heavy._ And that was only one arm. 

Sitting up straight, Eren stretched out his back and tail, fins flicking to regain some feeling in them. Then sparing Levi a bitter glance, Eren swam out of the cave.

He had to leave. He never should have come here.

His mum always told him to stay away from the mer village and their ‘big, scary mermen with horrible teeth and even horrible breath’. But here Eren was, in the very heart of the village and having slept with a merman. Despite himself, he chuckled resentfully.

_What do you think of me now, mum?_

He didn’t know how to get out; a persistent barricade. Added to that was finding his way back to the shore from here. Eren could go alone – he had survived worse. He just had to stay close to weeds and stop by caves every now and then to avoid unwanted attention. For directions, he just had to breach the surface of the ocean and rely upon the sun, moon, and stars. They had guided him for years and Eren had learnt to read them well.

His first task was to find the exit. Eren decided to ask the merfolk for help; mers moved in and out of their communities all the time, the evidence being the mermen who had harassed him at the shore. So a simple mermaid asking for help to leave wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, would it?

Levi would panic when he woke up to an empty cave. Eren silently apologized to him, but he had to do this. _It was for Levi’s sake_ , he lied as he came out of the cave and into the open water.

Or maybe he could go right back inside and cuddle with Levi, pretending nothing had ever happened.

Feelings torn between choosing Levi and the shore, Eren clamped both hands to his cheeks as more tears welled in his eyes.

 _No,_ he said sternly, _I will not._

Eren swam away.

* * *

Without a doubt, the mer village claimed the prize for the most colorful place Eren had ever been to. Eren wished he had four more pairs of eyes to take everything in. 

Schools of fishes drifted ahead of him, wagging their little fins and spreading out into a spectrum of variegated colors as they parted for feeding. Harlequin corals served as the haunts of a herd of tiny seahorses, the funny little creatures darting in and about the many folds, twists and turns in the corals.

Behind him rose a towering black cliff, its face studded with pearlescent blue crystals that lit up the little village. Rocks littered the seabed as did seashells, this deep in the ocean. Eren supposed they had been brought in by other mers as courting gifts or simply to decorate the village. Weeds of different kinds that Eren didn’t recognize grew around the rocks, their tendrils twisting and climbing for support while some floated eerily. The ocean bed bore numerous treasures – broken shards of crystals, some poor mer’s torn fins that glowed brightly, shells, bones of dead fish and crabs, little flora and their thin stems, patches of moss – this was their element. It was their ecosystem – the very few which was yet to be spoiled by humans hands, Eren realized.

The mer community didn’t match his mother’s descriptions at all. When she talked about it, the image of a forlorn, ghastly place obscured by darkness and horrid merpeople covered in blood and entrails presented itself in his head; he had never once imagined it to be this… colorful _._

So bright that Eren forgot about his reasons for venturing away from Levi and his fears. Curiosity took over the reins and it drove him forward. Eren wanted to see more of this beautiful place he had been denied the access to.

The best part had to be the mers themselves. Mers glided past him with their polychromatic tails and fins, their hair floating above their heads defying gravity in a strangely pleasing way. Some clutched fish in their hands, some wore small necklaces of crystals and shells, some looked deadly, others sweet and petite – mers with lively, cheerful eyes stopped occasionally to hail their friends for a chat – some zoomed past in a hurry. To Eren’s surprise and delight, he spotted a group of little mers racing each other and laughing madly as they stumbled into coral beds and engaged in a playful fight.

Eren had never seen _this_ many mers in one single place before. It had always been him and his mum. Later, him and his otters. After that, him and Erwin. Now…

Oh, how Eren _wished_ he could stay here.

Something soft grazed his tail and Eren twirled around, alarmed, and came face to face with a new mer. The mer who smiled at him had red hair that floated above his head, not unlike a whirlpool. He advanced closer, the sharp claws and long brown tail flashing warning signals at Eren. His tail swished angrily from side to side, a defense mechanism that naturally reacted when he was under pressure.

The mer stopped his advances, his dull red tail curling up at once. “I didn’t mean to scare you,”

Eren ordered his tail to halt as well. “That’s alright,”

“Where are you from?” the mer asked. “It’s just… I know everybody in this community – not that hard, it’s a pretty small one, but I’ve never seen you around here before… are you a tropical mer?”

“Huh?”

“Tropical mers,” the mer pointed at his tail, a giddy smile breaking out. “They are always beautiful and brightly colored, like you. We are deep water mers,”

Like a dog that wouldn’t stop wagging its tail when excited, Eren’s tail too picked up speed. He flushed, not knowing how to respond. “I…”

“I’ve never seen a tropical mer before,” his eyes curiously trailed over Eren, taking him from head to fin.

Brain picking up the lag, Eren played along. “Yes, I am a tropical mer,” he affirmed, flashing his fins out for show. They weren’t as sharp or remarkable as Levi’s fins, but smaller and translucent, built to attract mermen rather than fend off threats. It made Eren feel like a stupid showpiece.

 The mer nodded. “What brings you here?”

“Uh…”

“Floch!”

The mer, Floch, jerked his head towards whoever had called him, his movements wobbly and frantic like as though a jellyfish stung him. Eren turned too, eager to thank his savior from answering to Floch, and froze, the blood rapidly draining from his face.

His mind screamed. Levi?!

No wait, wait, this wasn’t Levi; the mer’s hair, though being the exact same dark shade of Levi’s, was incredibly long. As the mer approached closer to them, the resemblance to Levi was striking, but still different – black eyes instead of Levi’s grey. A slightly softer face, more feminine and less angular. Full lips. Her tail too was different – black, grey and white formed piebald patterns that reminded Eren of orcas – killer whales. She looked like the mer version of them, with long black claws that gleamed.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on guard duty?” She asked sharply, black eyes boring into Floch’s and completely ignoring Eren. Not that Eren minded; this one radiated an aura of ‘you’ll be sorry if you mess with me’ and Eren did not want to test her.

Floch gulped, eyes comically wide and face flustered. “O-On my way,”

He swam away at once.

The mer watched him retreat, his dull red tail growing smaller and smaller with distance until he vanished. Eren tried to move too, hoping that his escape would go unnoticed.

“Excuse me,”

Fuck.

He turned around slowly, a sickly sweet smile aimed at her in hopes of easing the tension. “Hi!” he squeaked. When the mer merely knitted her brows together, slight traces of panic trickled over him.

Maybe he had to show her he was not hostile? How did mers show each other they meant no harm - wait, a headbutt did the trick didn't it? Levi had told him a headbutt was a sign of greeting...

He moved so fast, their heads whammed into each other. Eren pulled back, his temple pounding madly. His skull must have cracked for sure.

“What is wrong with you?” the mer asked, a hand on her forehead. She rubbed it thoroughly and glared at him. “Are you – what’s wrong with your _tail_?”

Eren immediately flexed his tail in alarm, expecting to see some sort of fracture or a tear among the scales. The turquoise appendage innocently blinked at him, devoid of any damage. He cut back to the mer, offended.

“My tail is perfectly fine, _thank you,_ ” he poured as much acid he could into the last two words.

“l know that – it’s just… why is it so _bright_?” she squinted at it. “That is really bad for survival in these depths. You’re an easy target with those colors,” she pointed at the scales that decorated his shoulders. “Are you from another community?” 

“Maybe so,”

“Ah. Where from? Somewhere close to the shores? Only a tropical mermaid can be this… _shiny_ ,”

“Yes, I –” Eren broke up, outraged. “How do you know I’m a mermaid?!”

“Your scent. It’s too sweet,”

Fuck her and her stupid large nostrils.

“What community are you from?” she asked again, crossing her arms. Her upturned nose and grim eyes said she meant business and wasn’t easily fooled. Eren hated her already.

“That is none of your business,” he replied coolly, raising his head.

“As a matter of fact, it is my business.” She flexed her claws. “I am one of the troopers stationed to guard this mer village and I demand to know, in the name of safety, where you are from, how you came here and why,”

Eren’s head swam under the impact of their collision and her questions; how the fuck was he supposed to answer all that? He had been spared from Floch only to end up with _her._ At least Floch was capable of smiling; this mer looked like somebody had placed a load of dung under her nose.

Eren inhaled to clear his head up a bit. “One, I am from the shore. Two, a merman brought me here because, three, I had nowhere else to go and needed shelter,”

“Which merman?”

Should he tell her? What if it landed Levi in trouble? Would he be punished?

“Why do you need to know?” he challenged, chest puffed out.

“To know who is responsible for you," Mikasa responded, unfazed by his performance. "If this merman of yours is courting you and other mermen show signs of interest, then your merman will come after them and beat the shit out of them,” she explained. “I want to prevent unnecessary fights,”

Eren found himself agreeing with her. “That sounds like something Levi would do,”

The mer’s hostile air dissipated at once, replaced by astonishment. “You’re familiar with my brother?”

“Yes, Levi – wait, he is your _brother_?!”

Both Eren and the mer gaped at each other, comprehending this new information. No wonder Eren had mistaken her for Levi at first glance – the same upturned nose, the same cold expression, the same aura of authority and composure – _damn_. Why hadn’t Levi ever told him he had a sister? Eren thought bitterly; two weeks of spending time together like that and not once had Levi talked about his family - not that Eren had either. 

She was the first to break the silence. “My name is Mikasa,”

“Eren,” he quickly replied. “Levi brought me here,”

“So _you’re_ the one ever mer has been talking about,” she scooted closer to him, making straight for his fins and tail. “Every mer knows about you,”

“They do?!”

Mikasa hummed, her claws carefully prodding a delicate fin. When it flicked away from her, she almost smiled. “Yeah. Apparently, Levi returned back from his inspection of the shore with a mermaid in tow. The interesting bit, as reported by the mers present during the scene, was that Levi showed signs of extreme aggression and possessiveness regarding the mermaid he had brought; not to mention,” she looked up, a knowing glint in her eyes, “the mermaid reeked strongly of Levi’s scent,”

“I do not reek,” Eren huffed indignantly, his tail curling away from her.

“You do,” The amusement in her voice irked him. Mikasa studied him for a while more, her knuckles trailing over the fragile scales that fused with his lower abdomen. If Eren felt uncomfortable with the treatment, he did not show it; but every cell in his body yelled at him to get away from Mikasa; there was something about her touch that failed to appeal to Eren and it was clear that his instincts rather preferred Levi slow caresses.

Perhaps sensing his discomfort by the sour scent, Mikasa withdrew her hands and had the grace to look abashed. “I didn’t mean to,” she apologized.

“It’s alright,” he said, surprised that she had taken the hint. She looked sincere enough... Eren decided to cut her some slack.

“But I didn’t think Levi would go for someone like you,” Mikasa remarked with a distasteful glance at his colors. “Bright hues like yours attract way too much attention and is extremely impractical for survival in these depths; are all tropical mers this flashy?”

“Er… yes, we all are,”

“Hmph.” Mikasa pursed her lips. “Well, Levi has always liked shiny trinkets,”

“Really?” The thought of Levi hoarding all sorts of glittery shells and rocks like a great blue dragon elicited a snort from him. Was Levi’s home piled with strange treasures of the aqua?

“Haven’t you seen his cave? That enough is proof,”

Eren shook his head. “I’ve never been there,”

Mikasa frowned. “How come?”

“He didn’t take me,”

“Why not?”

“Er… I don’t know,” Eren said honestly, raking his brains. Why did Levi take him to Hanji’s cave instead of his own? Was he afraid that Eren wouldn’t like it?

Mikasa’s frowned deepened when she approached closer and inspected his neck. “Where are your marks?” she demanded.

“I don’t have any,”

“What?!” she gawked at him, eyes echoing disbelief. “That is absurd! You’re telling me Levi didn’t mark you yet?”

“I told him not to,” Eren defended. “I didn’t want to… not yet,”

The information stunned Mikasa for a moment. Then a slow smirk found its way on her lips. “Shy?” she asked slyly.

“No fucking way!” Eren retorted hotly. “I am not shy!”

“Then why aren’t you marked yet? Are you scared that it will hurt? And what are you doing here, away from Levi?”

“I am not scared of being bitten, it has happened one too many times,” Eren muttered dryly. But at Mikasa’s question, his mind jumped at once to why he had escaped from the cave in the first place. He quickly rearranged his scowl. “About that; do you know how to get out of this village?” he asked innocently, sweetening his scent. “If you could just point me towards the exit, I’ll be in your debt,”

Mikasa frowned again. “Does Levi know you’re planning to leave?”

_Fuck._

“…Yes,” he said a bit too late.

She didn’t seem satisfied with the answer. “If Levi brought you here for your safety, I don’t think he’ll just let you out in the ocean that easily. Especially on your own. A mermaid with your colors is like a beacon for sharks and other predators,”

“Right,” Eren ground his teeth. “I have endured worse. How do I leave?”

“I don’t think Levi will be happy with finding out you left without informing him. Where is he?”

“Somewhere,”

“Where. Is. He.” Mikasa pressed. Damn, why couldn’t she take a break? 

“In Hanji’s cave,”

“Ah, so you escaped?”

Eren’s mind constructed a frenzied daydream that involved him, Mikasa, and a brick to her face. He fumed internally before forcing himself to smile again. It appeared more of a grimace, he knew.

“Can you kindly point me towards the exit?” he tried again.

“MIKASA!”

Eren hurled out of the way as something that vaguely resembled a hyper blonde coconut crash landed on her from above. Mikasa gasped wildly, struggling to throw the mer off her, but it clung to her like an octopus. Its arms wound around her neck tightly, and for a sadistic moment, Eren hoped that it would choke her.

“Armin, get off!”

The blonde mer obeyed at once, much to Eren’s disappointment. It broke out into a ramble, big excited eyes punctuating every word that shot out of its mouth at the speed of light. When it stopped to take a breath, Mikasa’s face was as blank as a pebble. “You know I can never understand you when you talk like that, don’t you?”

The mer huffed and rolled his eyes, its lips settling for a childish pout, bemusing Eren. How was it that this mer actually dared to roll its eyes at Mikasa, let alone try to squeeze the life out of her? Now that Eren checked her more closely, Mikasa had similar razor-sharp black fins like Levi that jutted out from specific junctions in her thick tail.

“Oh right,” Mikasa cleared her throat, catching Eren’s eye. “Eren, this is a friend of mine: Armin. He is a mermaid too,”

Armin smiled wide, his baby blue eyes shining and golden hair swimming away, as though having a mind of their own. Blue tail waving with repressed energy, he paddled up to Eren at once, leaning in to cup his cheeks. Mentally prepared this time to know what was going on, Eren closed his eyes as he felt the blonde mer tenderly rub their foreheads together.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” Armin brushed his fingers over Eren’s scales. Oddly enough, Eren found himself at ease with him and his touch, unlike with Mikasa’s earlier prodding. With a quick glance at his tail, the blonde mer enquired, “Are you –”

“A tropical mermaid, yes I am,” Eren returned without any delay. He wondered how many more subspecies of merfolk existed, once again sighing at his limited knowledge about the merpeople.

“Your tail is lovely,” Armin complimented with a sweeping gesture at his smooth scales. “There aren’t much brightly colored mers like you deep down here. Helps to blend in with the rocks,”

Eren opened his mouth to argue, stating that Armin’s fins and tail – a bold shade of electric blue with light golden streaks – were anything but dull. He was denied the chance when Armin interjected without missing a beat, enquiring, “How did you come here?”

“Levi brought him here,” Mikasa answered for him. Armin’s face brightened up more than it was possible.

“So _you’re_ the mystery mermaid the troopers have been talking about, huh? I heard a great deal about that; they say Levi tried to take an arm off when someone touched you – is that true?”

“No,” Eren said firmly. “Levi did no such thing. He did nothing more than hiss and throw a fit,”

“Oh,” His tail dropped in disappointment. “It was funny when Jean told me,”  

Mikasa hunched her back and let out a long groan. “Jean needs to learn how to shut the fuck up. I had to spend five moons scaring off any mer who believed that I had taken a squid for a mate,”

“It was just a joke Mikasa,” Armin soothed her. “And besides, Annie–”

“Annie doesn’t look like a squid!”

“Right,” Eren could tell by the way Armin’s shoulders shook that the matter was of great mirth to him. Feeling left out, Eren cleared his throat.

“I… I asked for –”

“Oh yeah!” Mikasa exclaimed with a loud gasp and reached out for Eren’s arm, claws tightly grasping it more than it was required. “Eren was just asking me to give him a little tour of the community – him being from the shore and all,” she smiled, ignoring the pointed glare he gave her. “Armin, would you like to join us? I’m sure he’ll appreciate the help,”

“Ooh, sure!” Armin piped up jubilantly and he took over Eren’s other arm. “Come on, we’ll start with my cave – I can even introduce you to my mate along the way!”

Praying for the ocean to drop him a brick so that he could aim it at a certain mer’s face, Eren sighed and let himself be taken by the two mers, the nervous churning in his stomach prophesying doom.

He was trapped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, a big thank you to all of you wonderful angels for reading my fic! Your kudos, comments and questions always keep me alive at the end of the day - I think I'm honestly running on nothing but your feedback. I need to take a pee break.  
> I love you all!


	11. Merfolk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren learns more about the merfolk

Mikasa was more trouble than he had bargained for.

She clung to Eren like a squid, sharp eyes not once shifting their gaze from him. There was something potently unpleasant laced in her scent – Eren’s nostrils flared as he worked to decipher what she smelled like, but his usually excellent nose had abandoned him. The more he swam with her, the more he wished he had Levi by his side to soothe him with his salty spray. His body too reacted unfavorably, every cell constantly on edge and itching to flee away from the dark mer.

She was Levi’s sister, wasn’t she? Then why did Eren feel such disapproval at her presence?

On his other side, Armin trilled excitedly about the mer village, pausing occasionally to see if Eren was listening. Eren had never felt this relaxed with another mer that wasn’t Levi; Armin’s scent glands gave off a cheery draft of freshly broken coconuts and Eren leaned towards him to better inhale the sweet scent that worked wonders to keep him grounded. At the mer’s prodding, Eren resolved to quit his attempts to escape for the time being and soak in more of the oceanic world.

With Mikasa by his side, he doubted if he could pull off a stunt to get away.

“How many types of mers are there?” Eren asked, pausing to let a sea horse scurry by; there were loads of the little creatures in the village and rarely a second went by without one of them smacking into Eren’s tail or face as they raced in a hurry to their feeding grounds in variegated corals.

“Well,” Armin began, “One, you have us: we are deep water mers. We live at the very  _bottom_  of the ocean and rarely come up to the surface. We’re mostly dark in color to better blend with the rocks and weeds to avoid detection by predators like sharks and such. Our gills are larger than tropical and freshwater mers to take up more air to breathe,” Armin pointed at the slits located above his scent glands. Four slits, wider than Eren’s, pulsed softly. “Our eyes are adapted to see in the depths as well as though we were on the surface, but the sunlight can be blinding to us,”

“Then there are mers like you: tropical mers, who chose to inhibit the surface or near beaches, in warmer waters. Brightly colored and very flashy – for attracting mates,”

“Not particularly useful for survival,” Mikasa added.

“You’d be surprised,” Eren replied sweetly. Mikasa narrowed her eyes but made no further comments.

“Tropical mers go into a longer heat period than any other mers,” Armin resumed as though nothing had happened. “But they’re also the rowdiest when it comes to mating. You mers mostly live in and around coral reefs –

“The great barrier reef of Australia!” Eren broke in, tail quivering. “I’ve been there, it was awesome!”

He was met with blank stares from both Mikasa and Armin.

“The  _what_?”

“You’ve been  _where?_ ”

“Oh forget it,” Eren dismissed them. That didn’t stop Armin from asking, “What’s this place Aus – that you speak of? Is it the mer village that you are from?”

“Er… no,” Eren rubbed the back of his neck. How should he tell this? “But it is one of the … mer villages... that I did happen to visit. I didn’t find any mers there, but the place was extraordinary,” he recalled, smiling reminiscently at the haunts of coral beds, clownfishes and sea turtles that had floated around him.   
It wasn’t that he had found mers; Eren had carefully avoided approaching any place that bore signs of mer civilizations.

“I see,” Armin pondered over his words for a while before proceeding with his lesson. “Then you have freshwater mers – dull in comparison and colored to resemble mud, because of the murky waters they inhabit. They mostly look after lakes and freshwater sources and rarely leave their biomes, even for mating,”

“Freshwater sources are running out,” Eren said, stomach knotting. If humans continued to exploit their water resources at their current rate then these mers would be deprived of their homes. “Will they be able to survive in salt water?” He inquired skeptically, knowing full well what the answer would be. “If these freshwater sources were to run out, they’ll have to migrate in search of new homes and the only ones left would be the ones saturated with salt,”

“I know,” Armin’s ears drooped gloomily. “When I matured, I left this village for a while to explore the world and along the way came upon freshwater mers. They told me what was going on – humans, they complained, kept dumping most of their wastes in their homes. They said some sort of shiny, slippery stuff kept clogging the waterbeds and trapped all the salmon that journeyed upwards in the spring,”

“Plastic,”

“Huh?”

“Plastic,” Eren repeated. “Those things are called plastic,”

“Oh. Well, these plastics seem to cause most of their woes,”

Eren nodded, all too familiar with the harmful effects of the substance. “What other mers exist?”

His entire life a bubble of golden sand and blue-green waves, waving palm trees and bright sun, it had never occurred to Eren that there might be other types of mers to roam the waters beside the ones that lived in the bottom of the ocean in the infamous mer village his mother warned him about. Now exposed to this new information, he was eager to know everything about the world that he had been cast away from.

Smiling at his enthusiasm, Armin continued, “Let’s see… there are arctic mers. They are burly, strong mers that live in terribly cold and harsh conditions. I remember when I visited them and my tail almost froze off,” Armin shuddered, his tail swishing in agreement. “They are usually deathly pale and have thick tails for insulating themselves and their mates. The mermaids have really short heat cycles to conserve strength.

“And last, but not least, there are the kelp forest mers. They dwell in dense covers of kelps, close to the surface. Actually, it’s really hard to tell the difference between tropical mers and kelp mers,” Armin informed, his hand brushing over Eren’s fins. “They’re brightly colored like you and at first glance, tropical mers and kelp mers appear to be the same. They merely live in different habitats and consume different diets. That’s about it,”

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin swam in silence for some time, each one of them lost in their own thoughts.

Glossing over everything Armin had told him so far, Eren was astounded by the number of mers that existed in the world. The only merpeople he had been exposed to were the ones who had wandered to the shore; the ocean was  _humongous_  and she housed so many lives within her… he was merely a minuscule dot among the evolving, thriving spectrum of aquatic life. So many different types of flora and fauna, some that didn’t even have brains to think, some immobile for the rest of their lives, some that lived for hundreds of years – it made Eren feel so  _tiny._

An abrupt distraction in the form of a small tail and a pair of thin arms crashed into Eren, snapping him out of his reverie. Stumbling backward, Eren shook his head and glanced down to locate the source of the disturbance, the culprit in the form of a little mer with a pale tail.

“S-Sorry!” the mer gulped, eyes wide and scared.

“Are you alright?”  Eren frowned, concern washing over him as he surveyed the young mer’s form – the little one didn’t have any specks of colored scales around his shoulders and his glands weren’t highlighted either. Only the gills bore some hue and they were light blue, like the tail.

Was he ill?

“Falco!” Armin hailed and rushed forward to pick up the mer in his arms. Butting their heads together, he smiled down at him in a motherly fashion that sent prickles over Eren’s skin – did he have pups?

Falco beamed at the blonde mer, letting out a high-pitched trill to voice his greeting while his small tail wagged happily. “Armin! What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same,” Armin looked around, searching for something. “Where are the others?”

At his question, Falco gazed in the direction he had come from. “I was racing, but lost them,” he detangled himself from Armin’s hug and faced Eren. “I’m sorry,” he apologized again.

Smiling at the young mer, Eren shook his head. “It didn’t hurt. But are you alright? You look pale,”

When Falco shook his head, Eren turned to Armin for an explanation and wasn’t disappointed. “They are like that until they mature. Once they do, they’ll get their colors and distinctive scents for attracting mates,”

“Oh,” Eren said shortly. He continued to survey Falco with interest – was this how all young mers looked like? He had assumed he was the only one. Plain and dull, devoid of any striking features until their first heat or rut cycle after which they slowly gained their hues and the scents that were so important for luring mates. Little pupas breaking out of their cocoons to take flight as winged beauties.

“Do you need help looking for them?” Armin offered kindly to which Falco shook his head again. “They’ll come over here any second. We were planning to return to the sitters,”

“The sitters?” Eren tilted his head.

“The mers tasked with looking after the pups and the adolescent mers,” Armin was the one who answered again.

Eren opened his mouth, a stream of more questions ready to be released when high-pitched laughter distracted him. Head turning towards the source of the sound, he caught three mers, all younglings, weaving in and out of other mers and rocks. When they spotted Falco with Armin, the mers raced to him. Falco stepped forward with a grin that instantly turned into a scream as his friends crashed into him. The group struggled, tails tangled and all four mers squealing wildly as they fought for release.

With a heavy sigh, Mikasa and Armin helped them and Eren joined in their efforts, separating the younglings. Four pair of eyes blinked at him and he blinked back, taking in the new arrivals – two females, one with long black hair and challenging green eyes, the other with Armin’s golden locks along with another male, his dark hair plastered to his scalp.

“Hi Arm– wow!” the black-haired female gushed, green eyes wide with equal parts curiosity and awe. “Your tail  _glows_!”

Eren whipped his tail towards her, the fins at the end tickling her cheek. She snorted and violently shook her nose away. The other three, Falco included, were grouped together at a comfortable distance away from Mikasa who seemed sour about it. Eren didn’t blame them – she looked like the answer to the question ‘what would happen if a human fucked a killer whale?’ 

“You’re scaring them, miss ‘not-particularly-useful-for-survival’,” Eren sent a smug smirk her way, earning a scowl in return. “Please don’t bark; it frightens the little ones,”

“I’m not scared of her,” the black-haired one supplied haughtily and Eren instantly knew she was the leader of the little group.

“Good for you. What’s your name?”

She considered Eren, eyes raking him up and down. “Gabi,” she finally uttered.

“So Gabi… what made you suddenly stop behind and let Falco run away on his own, huh?”

“We were racing but Udo, Zofia and I stopped by these corals because there were so many seahorses!” Gabi’s eyes sparkled. “I wanted one, so I caught it!” She held up her hands, one clamped over the other.

“Open them,” Eren ordered.

Furrowing her brows slightly, she lifted her right palm by a fraction. Eren spotted the frantic wriggling of a tail underneath before she shut her hands again. “It’ll escape!” she protested.

Eren took her hands with his. “I’ll make sure it doesn’t. Open up,”

Gabi complied with great reluctance, her hands hesitantly parting ways. At once, the seahorse shot into Eren’s palms and darted about, hitting his hands in a wild frenzy to escape.

Cupping it in one hand, Eren’s nerves jittered as he felt the drumming of a terrified heart against his palm. With one careful finger, he gently stroked the coronet and its neck, taking care to not squeeze it in his grasp. It still fluttered about, but under Eren’s care, the seahorse slowly returned to ground from its panic and deciding that the warmth of the mermaid’s palm was a safe place to rest in, it curled up against his fingers.

“You were terrorizing it,” he told Gabi who had her eyes trained on his palm, watching intently.

“I wasn't! At least, I… I didn’t mean to,” she mumbled, cheeks flushing.

“I know you didn’t,” Eren kept his voice low and soft. “But when a mer that is twenty times the size of something as small as this tries to capture it while it was minding its own business, it terrifies the poor thing,”

Gabi bit her lip. “I was just… it looked so pretty and I thought I could keep it,”

“You’re pretty too,” His free hand poked her cheek. “But I don’t see anyone trying to keep you hostage,”

“I’m a mer!” Gabi scoffed. “I’m not meant to be caged!”

“And neither is a seahorse. Nothing is meant to be caged, not even a little krill. They’re all born free,” He set the seahorse down on a rock tainted with patches of green and brown. Realizing it had been set free, it circled the rock, dorsal fins flapping wildly and took off with a burst of speed.

Watching it go, Gabi muttered an apology.

“An honest mistake,” Eren shrugged. “I once tried to make an otter eat seaweed. That didn’t work out,”

She grinned at that. “Who are you? I mean –” she added hurriedly, “What’s your name? I haven’t seen you around here before,”

“Eren,”

“Eren,” she recited aloud, for whose benefit he didn’t know. With another glance towards his tail, she said, “You’re pretty too,”

The viridian tail that was his pride and joy twitched happily at the compliment; it sometimes felt like his tail had an entire mind of its own and Eren smiled, at his tail or the compliment he couldn’t tell. With a round of ‘see you later’ chirps directed at Armin and him along with nervous smiles for Mikasa, the group zoomed away until the aqua reduced them to point-sized marks.

Eren’s attention turned to Armin once again as he asked, “Sitters? Don’t the parents raise the pups?”

“Of course they do! The sitters are more of a second guardian – they tend to wounded mers, pregnant mermaids, mermaids that just gave birth, orphaned pups, and bastards. They teach young mers the necessary survival skills like foraging, which fish and weeds are edible, which ones to stay away from – all that,”

“Oh. That is good. Like a wee mer school complete with an infirmary,” Eren enthused. A sudden image of a bunch of younglings reclining on little chair-like rocks while listening to an older mer pointing at the remains of a shark flashed in his mind and Eren screwed his face, laughing silently.

“That’s not it though; we also have the troopers and the scroungers!”

Eren stopped laughing. “What the fuck are those now?”

His language awarded him with another scowl from Mikasa. “The troopers are elite mer warriors who protect the village they’re assigned to,” she folded her arms and eyed him with scorn. “They could break your little tail in half with barely any effort,”

“Oh?” Eren raised a brow. “Are they also massive dickheads like you?”

“No,” Armin interrupted fiercely before Mikasa could elevate their fight. They both settled for staring daggers at each other. “The troopers are for protection and security. The scroungers hunt and forage for food to feed the village with,”

“Ok,” Eren nodded. Then prompted by an afterthought, he added, “Are there more villages? Apart from this?”

They continued to swim, taking care to not bump into any mers along the way. “Right now, we are in Trost,” Armin said, “which is the largest mer village in this part of the ocean. Trost and a bunch of other villages make up a large colony called Rose. There are other villages too, scattered about and hidden behind cliffs that shield us merfolk from the rest of the world.

“A group of villages south from here makes up the colony we call Maria. Another group of villages further north from here constitutes the colony Sina. Understand?”

“Three colonies full of merfolk, all divided into small villages. Got it,”

“And these three colonies together come under a giant civilization, Paradis.” Armin turned right around a haunt of seaweed, Mikasa and Eren in tow as they swam onward. “Every aquatic habitat has its own mer civilizations I learned, but ours is the only one with this much ordered division. We are ruled by a chief merman, the King, who is the strongest and most capable mer (as considered by other mers), who is assisted by some older mers in matters of how to best keep us safe and hidden away from prying eyes – especially sirens and humans,”

 _Siren_.

Eren’s stomach twisted violently and he felt like a thousand ice cubes were sliding down his back. He shook his head and came back to find Armin still talking.

“Mikasa is a trooper,” he was saying. “She and Levi both. They are the best of the best. In fact,” Armin turned around and swam backwards so that he could face them both, “Levi is the Commander of all the troopers in Paradis. Because he is the toughest and the most experienced,”

_Oh._

That explained  _a lot._  Eren thought back to how Levi was around him – so calm and composed, strong and confident, his excellent hunting skills and how he could expertly creep up on anything without the slightest of noises that even Eren’s mer ears couldn’t pick up on, his aura of authority and his build – thick tail, serrated fins running down his spine and elbows, canines and hooked talons, his burly, muscular build –

If Eren had felt small once, he now felt worse than an amoeba.

How? How could he ever have  _thought_  of staying by Levi’s side when this was Levi’s identity?! A glorified warrior who didn’t bow down to anything, who had fought numerous battles and emerged victorious from them all to be granted this position, who was so strong that he was the head of an entire armada of elite mermen at his disposal –

And then there was Eren… a fucking wimp who couldn’t even save himself from Erwin for crying out loud!

Hot tears pooled about his eyes and he ducked his head to keep them from seeing.  _So weak. So pathetic._

Someone like him by  _Levi’s_  side? He was a fucking joke next to Levi. He was… he was… Eren bit his lip so hard, he felt the coppery taste of blood slowly trickle into his mouth. What was he?!

_Nothing._

Erwin cackled in his head.  _Do you really think he wants_ you?  _A mermaid who can barely function in the mer society?_

“This is my cave,”

Blinking to force his tears back, Eren sucked in his breath and glanced up.

They halted before a massive heap of misshapen rocks piled on top of and around each other, the structure not unlike a raspberry cut in half. Armin swam towards a bed of corals at the side, swatting them once with his tail and a flurry of seahorses whooshed away, their fins tickling Eren’s belly and face.

Armin glanced at Eren, excitement evident in his eyes. “I’ll introduce you to my mate! Wait here!”

He disappeared into the cave.

“Hey,”

Eren looked at Mikasa. “What?”

“You… you alright? You had your head down the entire way here,”

“Headache,” he murmured.

Mikasa swam closer to him, softly brushing a hand against his temple. The gesture, definitely meant to be comforting, stirred up his alarm system and Eren twisted away from her at once. The hurt that crossed her face stung him like a sharp slap.

“Sorry, I –”

“I’m used to it,” Mikasa sighed.

Guilt and pity impaling his inner turmoil, Eren swallowed the lump in his throat. “Why were they so afraid of you? Gabi and her friends,” he croaked. “Is it because you’re a trooper?”

“…No,”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have jabbed at you like that earlier,”

“It’s fine,” she replied mechanically.

“No, it isn’t!” Eren insisted hotly. “Really, that was a nasty–”

His argument was interrupted by Armin’s return, the ocean lit with his buoyancy of being with his mate. His scent, sweetened more than usual, infected the aqua. Beside him floated a merman with long sandy hair, his tail and fins the color of burnt umber.

“This is Jean!” Armin introduced, one arm intertwined with his mate’s.

Sleek hazel eyes regarded both Eren and Mikasa, with a nod towards her and an arched eyebrow for him.

“So you’re the mermaid that sent Levi into a limb-breaking spree, huh?” he drawled, his upper curling. “I’m surprised. Didn’t think Levi would go for someone this…” he eyed Eren’s tail, amused.

“ _Shiny_ ,”

Eren sucked his breath. “Didn’t think Armin would ever go for someone this ugly either,”

The merman’s eyes narrowed dangerously and he scowled, his horse-like face twisting unpleasantly. The seahorse Eren had set free moments ago seemed like a divine beauty now when compared to Armin’s mate. Why the fuck had Armin chosen  _him_  of all mers? They had barely met for ten seconds and Eren’s instincts were raging, the prospect of scratching Jean’s face and permanently disfiguring it too tantalizing to refuse

“I don’t see any marks,” Jean snarked. “Did Levi have second thoughts about claiming something that looks more like mutated kelp with eyes than a mermaid?”

“I’m afraid I fail to see the resemblance between Eren and mutated kelp,” an ice-cold voice that chilled Eren to the bone intervened before he could retort back. “But I do see a striking connection between you and a giant pile of shit,”

Inky black strands floated lazily above his head as Levi approached them, his stormy eyes alight with malice. The commanding scent of salty breeze washed over Eren, instructing him to come to Levi’s side at once. He almost obeyed.

Almost.

He had left suddenly without any explanation to Levi. One look at those grey eyes and Eren knew Levi was far from happy with his actions. Eren stood his ground, trying to make himself appear bigger while fear within punctured holes in his balloon of confidence.

He wouldn’t succumb to fear. Not here. Not in front of Jean.

Those sharp eyes scanned him from head to fin, contemplating his stand. Then they turned to Mikasa.

“I would like to borrow him for a while,” he said, receiving a curt nod. Eren was once again struck by how similar they were and when the siblings shifted their gazes to him, it was all he could do to not quail under their looks.

 _Predators_ , his mind echoed. The deadliest hunters in the ocean. They could kill him with  _no_  effort whatsoever.

“Eren.”  

 “I can expl–”

“You will,” Levi’s tone was so cold and harsh, it made Eren shrink a thousand inches smaller than an amoeba. Levi had never used that tone with him before. He didn’t know what was worse – the fact that he was the one who had caused it or that it was Levi of all people using that tone on him.

“Come,” he beckoned.

With a gulp and a quick glance at Armin’s petrified form, Eren went with him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I did a tremendous amount of research for the types of merfolk and here are the results! I hope you guys enjoy reading about merfolk as much as I enjoy writing them!  
> Kudos and comments are my ATP y'all. They drive every other cellular activity in my body. I love all of you for reading my fic <3


	12. Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi scolds Eren for leaving suddenly and slight smut ensues.

Waking up to an empty cave was something he was used to.

He was used to being feared, being alone. Being appointed as the Commander of the mer troopers came with a price. A price that Levi didn’t find too heavy – he liked being left alone, surrounded by the company of a few trusted kin. Hanji, Mikasa, Armin, Isabel, and Farlan were all he had ever needed. Mikasa and Hanji pestered him to find a mate to share his nest with, but he sometimes found it an unnecessary and a tiresome task – to find a mermaid whose companionship he enjoyed, to woo them, mark them, claim them and mate with them.  

Moreover, bastards were never a favorable option for mers. They were born out of deceit and lust. Born from prurient instincts.

Bastards were perceived as arrogant and hateful. A bastard mer would never treat its mate with respect and compassion for it was conceived from the lack of those very qualities.

His crystal cave eyed him mournfully whenever he visited it. It wasn’t Levi’s fault – taking a mermaid for a mate meant that he had to be patient and kind with them. Gentle and caring. Wait, wait, wait for their approval. But Levi was a warrior, a predator who killed and played with blood. The mermaids in the village were all such docile, fragile creatures – Levi couldn’t picture himself by their side. And they weren’t keen on courting him either; mermaids rarely approached the troopers and kept their distance, preferring mers that were less terror-inducing and closer to their level of comfort.

The merfolk fell into a respectable silence whenever he passed them. They didn’t talk. They averted their eyes. They left him alone. They saw the face of a bastard. They saw the face of a predator and a killer. Levi didn’t blame them.

Levi had never found the price too heavy.

It was only when he met Eren did the price start to gain weight.

A headstrong, wild mermaid who did as he pleased, yet showed Levi, a stranger, compassion stronger than the ocean’s angry waves. The fact that he had chosen to trust in Levi, chosen to stay close to him than shrink away in fear, chosen to laugh and joke with him and readily accept the fish Levi caught for him had pierced Levi’s heart like a burning spear and remained lodged in there, providing a steady inflow of warmth.

Eren didn’t see him as a killer. Eren wasn’t afraid of him. Eren considered him a friend. Eren smiled at him and pulled his ears. Eren taught him how to play with otters.

Eren’s companionship was what he never knew he needed. After merely weeks of having met the mermaid, the voice inside commanded him to cater to the mer’s every need and prove his capability. The thought of Eren sharing his nest evoked such powerful emotions long buried that Levi had tried with new vigor every dawn to please the mermaid in hopes of his courtship being accepted.

And he had made tremendous progress. If a merman were to challenge for Eren’s hand now, Levi wouldn’t hesitate to fight for and defend Eren. He was so close…  _so close_  to finally finding a mate to bring home to.

This time, however, waking up to an empty cave was equivalent to the worst of nightmares. Levi hadn’t been able to grasp the situation – everything seemed to slide between his fingers, slipperier than eels.

Eren. Eren missing. Eren out in the open, amidst the merfolk without a single clue. Eren lost somewhere in the village without knowing how to get back to him.

Heart drumming so loudly and wildly that it almost broke through his ribs, Levi had left the cave without second thoughts, swimming in and out of corals, zooming past surprised mers minus the apologies. He had to find Eren before the mermaid encountered trouble.

But where?! Where was he? He had been so terrified of entering the village, why would he try to leave on his own?

Unless…

Unless he had  _left the village_?

The terror that had seized Levi then slammed his heart back into his chest and proceeded to smash it into a pulp. He had never felt so  _helpless_  before. Had Eren really been stupid enough to leave the village? Or was he still here, lost somewhere? What was Eren doing?!

The ugly image of an unknown merman, stalking closer to a cornered Eren swam in his mind and Levi forced his tail to beat faster. Where was he even going? Where should he even begin to look?

If he searched for Eren all over the village only for him to have escaped back to the shore…

But if he chased after him to the shore, only to realize Eren was still in the village trapped without Levi by his side to guide him…

_Fuck, fuck, FUCK!_

_Eren, where are you?_

Levi whirled around, eyes darting frantically and scanning the crowds of merfolk that swam past him about their business. He searched for the bright turquoise tail, hoping that the scales would flash out and alert Levi to his location, but only the dark hues associated with deep water mers greeted him. Claws twitched with repressed hysteria as he fought the panic trying to thwart him. Bright tail, Levi muttered to himself as he swam. Bright tail, shiny, bright tail, bright, vibrant tail, beautiful tail…

“Levi?”

He spun around, barely avoiding a collision as one of the most gigantic mers he had ever known towered over him. Confused eyes poked out from underneath his swirling mop of a hair.

“Mike,” Levi breathed. “Fuck, good timing –”

“You’re back,” Mike stated.

“ Wha – oh that,” Levi muttered distractedly. “Yeah, I am,”

Mike surveyed him intently. Then he said, “Good,”

“No, not good. Mike, did you happen to see a mermaid with a turquoise tail? Bright and pretty?”

“Turquoise tail?” Mike frowned. “Were the fins golden by any chance?”

“Yes, probably, I – look, his tail is really colorful. And he’s never been here before,” Levi waited for an answer, hope piling up.

“I saw a mermaid with your sister and her friend a few moments ago,” Mike told him. “I’m sure I’ve never met him before, but he did have a turquoise ta– Levi?”

Levi was off, ignoring the shouts that echoed behind him.

Mikasa had found him.  _Thank the seven seas._

She would keep him safe. She wouldn’t let Eren out of her eye. Levi trusted in Mikasa’s strength and if there existed any mer that was fierce and loyal to him, it was his twin.

Eren was safe, for now.

Though the beating of his heart slowed considerably than before, he still couldn’t discard the tingling anxiety at the back of his head and urged his tail to push him faster.

* * *

 

Eren didn’t speak the entire time he was led away from Armin’s cave. He swam silently behind Levi, the only sound being the soft rustling of his fins. Levi didn’t have to turn around to check if he was still following him; the pungent scent of guilt whammed into his nose every time he sniffed the aqua. What reasons he had for leaving the cave abruptly without prior informing, Levi did not know. But he would give the mermaid a piece of his mind.

Turning around a corner, Levi guided them back to  _his_ cave this time. He couldn’t bring an unclaimed mermaid into his home alone, unless he was already mated with some other mer. An austere rule among merfolk implemented for the safety of the mermaids, its violation lead to exile.

And Levi couldn’t care less. Right now, he wanted to be alone with Eren.

Treading the water for half an hour led them to a giant pile of crags circumscribed by drifting seaweeds. One couldn’t make head or tail of the misshapen pile that appeared more of a shark’s lair than anything else. Dark and black, with no visible entrance, fishes swam about, munching on the weeds.

Eren seemed confused. “This isn’t Hanji’s cave,” he spoke up for the first time.

“No,” Levi affirmed. “It is mine,”

The confusion neatly slid off his face, replaced by interest. Eren swam forward to better inspect the cave. His hands trailed over smooth rock, little nails skimming over the slippery surface.

Towards the far right, Levi pushed a curtain of seaweeds aside to reveal a gaping black hole. Calling Eren back, he pulled him into the cave and let the weeds once again hide them from the rest of the ocean.

The inky interior of the cave glowed dully with enough light to let them see each other but not strain their eyes. The source of the glow turned out to be little blue-yellow crystals that had caught Levi’s eye on patrol one day. He had collected as much as he could carry. Then, cracking open fissures in the walls of his cave, Levi had jammed the crystals into the rock for lighting.

Eren studied the crystals, his eyes glinting with wonder. “Where did you get these?” he prodded one of them with a hesitant claw.

“Half-buried in the ocean bed,” Levi replied shortly.

Eren examined them more, turning around so that he can take in the cave. Despite his seething anger, Levi’s tail fluttered expectantly, waiting for his opinion.

“It’s beautiful,”

 _Success!_ His inner voice clamoured and Levi puffed out his chest. Eren liked his cave!

“There’s more,” Levi took Eren to the very back of the cave where the wall gave away to another hole. This was merely the entrance chamber. Leading Eren through the short and narrow canal of water, they both breached the surface a second later, gasping for air.

“There’s no water here!” Eren blurted.

“The cave has two chambers,” Levi explained, pulling him up. “This one is situated at a higher level to block out tides. It’s where I sleep,”

In front of them stretched out a large expanse of wet rock, more crystals protruding out of the high-raised walls. Seizing Eren by the waist, he levered him up and helped him sit on the cave floor. Eren squirmed, slipping on the wet rock because of his tail. When he had finally adjusted, he inspected the place.

“This feels like an underground swimming pool,”

“This is not underground,” Levi corrected, perplexed. “We are still inside the cave,”

“I know, I know,” Eren sighed. His earth hair stuck tightly to his scalp and he shivered a little.

Levi scooted closer, checking him for injuries. He started at first but quickly gave in and sat tamely.

 “I’m not hurt,” Eren said. “I didn’t – no one hurt me,”

 Levi’s claw paused in the act of touching his cheek. “Why did you leave?”

Eren hesitated.

“Why did you leave?” Levi repeated, louder and sterner.

“I – I’m sorry,”

“Answer my question.”

Eren bit his lip. Guilt, fear and a hundred more emotions violently churned in his green eyes as he fought to form words. Oh, how easily he displayed himself… it was like he had cut his heart out and placed it in front of Levi bare for him to see.

“I just wanted to go outside,” he finally said meekly.

Levi inhaled, claws coming to rest on his shoulder. “You should have told me,”

“I –”

“ _You should have told me,_ ” His claws dug into the flesh. Did Eren have an ounce of understanding about what he had done? The risk he had put himself in?

Maybe he did, for he quailed under Levi’s intense gaze, eyes lowered.

“This isn’t the shore Eren,” Levi began. “This isn’t the open water where you can run away in a whim and hide in some cave. You are among merfolk you don’t know with no knowledge about any mer or where to go to,”

He said everything slowly, tone rigid. It was crucial for Eren to understand how reckless he had been, but Levi couldn’t shout or scream. No, Erwin had terrorized him enough. Levi would  _not_  be the same.

So he settled for a harsh yet gentle reprimanding instead. “If you were lost here Eren, who would you go to? If you encountered trouble, where would you hide?”

“I’m sorry,” Eren looked up, owlish eyes blinking back tears. “I really am!”

Levi sighed. “You were brought up at the beach and you don’t know how mer societies work. If you were to accidentally offend mers with a gesture that you aren’t aware of being offensive to merfolk, tell me, what would you do? Run and hide in a cave? But the caves here are already occupied with merfolk – will you intrude upon their homes?”

“…No,”

“Why didn’t you at least wake me up?” Levi demanded. “I would have taken you out at once if that is what you wished for,”

“I didn’t want to disturb you,”

The tips of Eren’s pointed ears turned red. Levi frowned at them before resuming. “Why did you leave? You didn’t answer that,”

“I wanted some space. To think… about everything that happened,”

Levi empathized, nodding. Being attacked by Erwin, then suddenly finding himself in a new place and surrounded by more of his kin, not to mention – oh shit… his cheeks heated up.

Eren had pleasured him with his mouth.

Levi’s cock twitched, slyly calling out to him.  _You liked that, didn’t you?_

 _You better shut the fuck up,_ he told it.

“Eren,” Levi’s voice came out in a breathless gasp and he cleared his throat, mentally shouting at his inner merman to calm the fuck down. “Hey, listen.” He cupped the mermaid’s cheek. “I know how you are. You have better luck fucking seaweed than staying still in one place – no, Eren stop laughing, this is not funny – Oi!” he shook him sternly. Eren hiccupped and forced his giggles back.

“You are worse than a goldfish that’s trying to get its mate to give birth,” Levi swore. “Now listen: I know you are wild. I know you need your space and I will gladly give it to you. I know that you need some way to release that hot steam inside you or else I’ll end up hitting your thick skull with a rock to knock you out, but Eren,  _you need to learn to stay put._ As much as I like watching you wad about with less grace than a baby seal, sometimes, you need to care about your own safety. Eren, you need to think before you act. Not everything requires you to go headfirst into a shoal of pufferfish and scare the shit out of them. Please don’t go out on your own like that without telling me,”

“I’m sorry,” Eren hiccupped again but Levi knew he was sincere. “I’m sorry for what I did,”

“You scared me…”Levi whispered. “I woke up to find you missing and… I was terrified that something had happened to you. If you had got hurt when I wasn’t there then… I brought you here after all… you are my responsibility,” he brought their noses together for a gentle nuzzle. “You are an unclaimed mermaid and… and a wonderful one too. There are plenty of mermen here without mates. Who’s to say they won’t try to court you? Who’s to say more than one of them won’t try to win you? And Eren, who’s to say that they won’t fight to get you?

“You know how brutal fights for courting rights can be, don’t you?”

Eren nodded bitterly. “Yeah,”

“I know you are curious about this new place. I know you want to explore and I won’t deny you that chance. I want you to go out and make yourself at home with the others, but right now, you need to learn first. Learn the few vital things about a mer colony before diving into it. All I want is your safety and your trust. Can you give me that?”

“You already have my trust. You always will,”

Casting the flutters and leaps in his stomach aside, Levi revealed one of his rare smiles to the mermaid. “And I will do everything to defend your dignity. I promised your safety and I intend to keep it,”

A brief round of snuggling followed during which Levi managed to steal Eren’s lips for a few seconds. Eren seemed more surprised than afraid when he was kissed but eagerly returned it, letting Levi hold him and play with his hair.

This was good, Levi thought as Eren scooted closer. If he couldn’t mark him, at least he could do this.

He’d wait. Wait, wait, wait for this mermaid to accept him. Woo him, please him, keep him happy and safe. In return for Eren’s warmth and company.

Reluctantly, Levi broke their kiss. “Hungry?” he asked Eren. The mermaid nodded instantly.

“I’ll get you some fish,” Levi butt their heads together and crawled towards the edge of the cave, preparing to dive back into the water.

“Levi?” Eren called behind him. The merman turned.

“Hm?”

“I’ll stay here,”

With a grateful smile, he nodded and left.

“You never told me you had a sister,” Eren accused thickly, mouth full of cod.

Levi clicked his tongue at him in disapproval, chiding him to swallow first. “You never asked,”

Eren swallowed before talking this time. “But still… she’s weird,”

Levi lifted his brows at him, to which Eren further added, “I felt funny around her. I knew she wouldn’t hurt me, being your sister and all, but… I didn’t like her being around me,” he finished in a low voice and hesitantly peered at Levi, expecting a scolding.

“You are an unclaimed mermaid,” Levi pointed out with a fish bone that he tossed into his mouth. “Of course that’s how you’ll react,”

“What do you mean?’

“Unclaimed mermaids always prefer the company of other mermaids,” Levi informed, recalling what Hanji had taught him when Isabel’s first heat had descended upon her. “They also prefer select mermen compared to all. You feel uneasy around her because she is a merman whom you are not acquainted with as opposed to me,”

Eren gaped at him. “Mikasa is a mer _man_?”

Levi nodded, picking up another fish bone. “Like me. She is the dominant kind, which is unusual. There are both male and female mermaids, but female mermen are quite unheard of. There are also mermaids with other genders, but no mer minds them much. A merman will mate with any mermaid regardless of their gender, as long as they are fertile and good company. The mermen are always male, with the exception of cases like Mikasa,”

Eren hummed with interest, his cod half-eaten. He took another bite. “What about your mother? Can I meet her?”

“I don’t have one,” Levi said oddly.

Did he expect Eren to show him sympathy? To coddle him and reassure him that everything would be alright and that he was sorry for Levi’s loss?

Whatever it was, he didn’t expect for Eren to frown and say, “Well that’s a bummer.”

Then he suddenly smiled. “Hey! We both don’t have our mothers! We match!”

Levi blinked. Before he could fathom what was happening, a smile was plastered across his face. A genuine smile, one full of fondness and amusement.

“We do,”

Eren beamed and a plethora of emotions attacked Levi at once.

How could someone make him smile over his mother’s death? Was Eren even real?

“What about your father?” Eren asked. A low growl rumbled in Levi’s throat and he coughed once to speak. “He left,”

The frown appeared again. “But… merfolk mate for life, don’t they?”

Levi shook his head. “My mother wasn’t his mate,”

Silence. Then Eren said, “I don’t understand,”

It was one of the ugly faces of the mer world. Nothing, no matter how beautiful or wonderful, was exempted from flaws and the ocean’s creatures were one of them. Meeting Eren’s eyes, Levi said, “My father forced my mother into a bond with him. He didn’t mark her. Very much like what Erwin is trying to do you. She couldn’t escape and… and was forced to bear him pups,”

Eren listened intently, eyes unblinking and trained on Levi’s. “She died moments after bringing me and Mikasa into the world. Right after instructing the sitters what to name us. I and Mikasa are bastards – the result of a forced and unwanted bond that desecrated a mermaid’s dignity,”

“Are bastards hated?”

“We are looked down on, but not severely hated. Bastards are not fed their mother’s milk because they are believed to be undeserving of the care bestowed upon normal mer pups. They are a reminder of a mer’s most wicked aspects – failing to control and master their instincts,”

“But that’s not their fault!” Eren argued angrily. “They aren’t responsible for what their fathers did to their mothers! It’s not fair!”

“I know Eren,” Levi soothed him. “But it is an opinion that has been shaped by generations of merfolk and it won’t disappear overnight,”

“But!” Eren fumbled with his cod, gnashing the fish furiously with his teeth. He gulped it down hastily and coughed twice before coming up, eyes streaming. “You can’t blame the pups for the mistakes their parents did! No, not parents – their fathers! Depriving a pup off its mother’s milk just because of an accident of birth –”

“Merfolk aren’t completely heartless Eren. The bastard pups are fed a substitute equally rich in nutrients as a mermaid’s milk. Remember the strange plant Hanji gave you to patch up my injuries with?” He asked and received a nod from Eren. “Its paste is given to these pups to drink. And let me tell you, it is the most  _disgusting_ thing in the entire world that my tongue had the misfortune of tasting. I rubbed it on rocks for days after to get rid of the taste,”

Eren scowled and put his face down, glowering at the half-eaten cod as though its existence was of great insult to him. Levi placed his meal on the cave floor and crawled closer to Eren, who chewed up the rest of his share of fish and swallowed.

His arms winding around Eren’s waist, he drew him closer and reached to rub their noses again.

“Levi?” Eren asked in concern, slender fingers skimming over his shoulders. “Did I upset you?”

He smelled so  _sweet…_  Levi brought his nose down, further south until they rested on the scent glands paramount to any mer. Inhaling a generous draft, he swiftly kissed him there.

“Mermaids… are  _wonderful_  creatures. They may be the submissive kind, but mermaids are considered more important than the mermen among merfolk. They are the ones who anchor the otherwise usually aggressive mermen and turn them into little guppies. Mermaids are the ones who nurture and keep the pups safe when they’re developing and are the ones who birth them. From a very early age, the pups are taught to treat mermaids with the utmost care and respect. Mermen strive to deliver their comforts… dishonoring a mermaid is the vilest of vile acts that a mer can do,”

“And yet, it happened to your mother,”

“And yet, it happened to my mother,”

Levi tugged Eren towards the bed of moss he had spread out over the cave floor. Lowering Eren into the velvety folds of green that swallowed him up, Levi hovered over him, using his powerful arms to stay upright and keep himself from crushing Eren’s chest.

Wet tresses spanned out on a green canvas with teal irises sporting a growing dark hole. Levi’s careful knuckles pushed away some stray threads of brown hair.

“And it will never happen to you,”

Something shone in Eren’s eyes.

“Armin told me you are the best mer trooper,” he stated. “You’re their Commander,”

“What of it?”

“You are a bastard,”

“Does that bother you?”

“No, it makes me happy,”

“Happy?”

Soft lips spread out in a tender smile as Eren reached up to toy with Levi’s fringes. “To be granted such a high honor and to be famed as the strongest… you deserve every bit of that respect,”

“Do I?” he slowly descended, their chests meeting in languid, rubbing motions. Eren swallowed.

“Every bit of it. If I didn’t admire you before, then I do now. Not that I didn’t,” he added. “I’ve always admired you,”

Levi thought for a while. Then he posed the question: "Are you afraid of me Eren?”

“You had four otters clinging to you,” Eren reminded him, patting his cheek. “You’re a big old softie. I bet I could bite you and there’d be nothing but honey and sugar running in your veins instead of blood… you’d taste so fucking disgusting,”

A chuckle burst from Levi and he kissed Eren. Their lips lazily sliding together in rhythm to their chests, Levi let the mermaid touch him where he pleased – Eren’s hands scouted his back and ran up the ridges of hard lats muscle, skipped down his biceps and traversed through his sides, fingers spiraling and taking in every inch of skin it could soak up before coming to a rest at the junction where scales merged with pale flesh. Levi kept his hands fixed firmly into the cave floor to ensure his entire weight didn’t fall on Eren. He grunted. It was uncomfortably painful and his nerves tingled, begging for relief.

“Levi,” Eren whispered between their lips. “Sleep on me,”

“It will hurt you,” he played tag with Eren’s tongue, chasing the sneaky muscle back into his mouth when it swiped at Levi’s lip.

“No,” Eren protested. “Come on, your arms will die if you keep that up,”

“My arms have endured worse,”

“Levi, lie down on me.” Eren commanded with such force behind his voice that Levi stumbled. His green eyes flashed and for a moment, Levi saw the shadow of the ocean’s tyrannical waves swirl in them – the exact same look Eren had given him earlier on Levi’s orders to come with him.

 _So wild_.

But Levi knew that Eren wouldn’t be able to handle the weight of his chest and tail combined. So instead, he rolled over to his side and crawled towards the cave wall where he pushed up to a sitting position, back resting against the stone. Confused, Eren rolled over as well; tail flapping to ask what he was supposed to do now.

Levi clicked his tongue, calling the mermaid to him and Eren answered at once, dragging himself on the moss with his elbows. When he arrived sufficiently close enough, Levi picked him and straddled him on his wide tail. Eren struggled to adjust his tail properly on Levi’s, fins flicking back and forth so that they could avoid being squished under. Once he was firmly positioned, he looked at Levi for guidance.

Holding his breath, he placed a clawed hand on Eren’s chest, pulse quickening at the steady rise and fall of tender flesh below. Levi searched for any hint of discomfort, but Eren didn’t give away anything.

Eyes maintained their contact. Levi stretched his fingers, the claws extending to rest on tan skin. A sudden ripple of fear coursed through him and Levi hesitated; the black talons that had killed so much and been painted with red so many times now lay over Eren’s beating heart.

One squeeze and he could pluck it out. He could rip Eren to pieces here and now.

Eren gazed back, doe eyes wide. Levi sniffed at the air – again, blank. They stared for seconds, minutes, hours, days, maybe moons? Levi didn’t know. He had to wait, wait, wait.

Teal pools were slowly blanketed by tan skin as Eren shut his eyes, long lashes gracing his features. Levi’s throat contracted.

_Trust._

Levi could hardly believe it. His claws twitched, ecstatic at the permission Eren had granted him. Opening his palms completely, the claws stretched to their full extent. They found purchase on Eren’s hips and stroked him back and forth, feeling the skin underneath. 

Levi wasn’t used to treating objects with gentleness or care. Violence and brute strength was the language he spoke in while fighting off a new foe every day and training the young troopers. Punch and dodge, slash and strike, tear and bite, kill and destroy.

That was all Levi knew.

He had to constantly remind himself to hold his strength back and not hurt someone.

But not with Eren.

The fierce urge to treat Eren with the utmost caution and care flooded him and not once did his claws shake out of place as they marveled the skin he was allowed to look after.  
The mermaid was built like a flower; lovely, fragile and easy to break apart. Yet, he sat there obediently, helpless and completely undefended, letting a predator like Levi touch him. Levi, with his cruel talons, serrated teeth, and fins that could kill Eren in an instant.

Levi moved his hands. He dragged them up, feeling the flesh and the singing thrums of life beat in Eren's chest. So much warmth overwhelmed his hands, wonderful, wonderful warmth that he greedily took up, wanting more. Levi turned him so that Eren could lie down, his back covered by Levi’s front. Chest heaving, he took delight in the sensation of his scars tickling Eren’s smooth back.

Hands traveled further north and found budding breasts, squeezing them gently and circling the dark nipples embossed on top. The response was immediate – Eren’s breathing took a sharp descent to irregularity as his chest heaved up and down. But he didn’t withdraw. He didn’t pull away.

So Levi resumed his study. Claws trailed over golden shoulders that he itched to  _bite_ , to sink his teeth into and mark. But they were not for him now. He left them to explore gracile and muscled arms. Eren wasn’t burly like him or the other troopers, but he had the beautiful build of a swimmer’s, with strong arms and pronounced collarbones. They stood out in stark contrast to Levi’s own physique – everywhere he went, Levi encountered only smooth and unscarred skin. Slender curves opposed to his rough ridges.

So different…  _so very different… he liked this difference… it was good._

He encountered the scales that fused with flesh and the beginning of the turquoise appendage. Gliding over the glossy scales that made up his tail, Levi stopped short at a point just below his crotch. He eyed the oval-shaped slit located at the center with interest. A claw was sent to test the waters and it gently pressed on the little hole that was the entrance to the mermaid’s clit.

Eren gasped sharply and Levi wound one arm over his chest to support him. “Easy,” he murmured, holding him steady whilst waiting for Eren to regain control.

When he did, Levi’s claw gave another teasing poke at his entrance.

A delectated shriek left the mermaid and he twisted in Levi’s grip. It fanned the spark of arousal into a bright flame and Levi’s beast chanted  _yes, yes, yes!_

He teased him more, spurred by the enthusiastic response Eren gave him each time. Then without warning, his claw broke the slit.

Levi watched with ardent fascination as the thick viscous liquid seeped out, slicking his fingers. Eren jerked, hips bucking up madly with another cry of ecstasy, but Levi pulled him down. He rubbed two of his fingers together, the slick released lubricating them thoroughly.

Instinct took up the chain of command and Levi knew what he had to do. He pawed at Eren’s entrance, the intense heat spreading and invading every corner of the cave. A wave of sweet lily was expelled from his scent glands and Levi sucked it in, his senses clouding over.

Retracting his claws back, Levi thrust a finger inside.

Eren  _screamed_  with delirium, neck thrown out as Levi entered. His finger prodded and brushed the sweet flesh inside, swimming around the bliss of his heat and widening him up. Eren was so  _soft_  and the beast inside roared, roared,  _roared_  – Eren was untainted. Untarnished. Pure and Whole. Fruitful.

His mermaid was ripe and ready to be plucked. But Levi had to wait, wait, wait.

“Levi…  _Levi, oh Le~vi…_ ” Eren sang. Clouds of rhapsody floated around them both as Levi inserted a second finger. Eren was warm,  _oh so very warm_ and he sang louder when the second finger joined the first. The melody reverberated throughout the cave, bouncing off the crystals and walls and into Levi’s ears.

“ _Levi, Levi, Levi… Oh, Levi~”_

Amorous shudders greeted Levi when Eren cried his name. When Eren’s voice spoke his name, it was special. He called for Levi, begged him to give him more, little moans and gasps escaping from swollen lips. Swollen red lips chanting his name again and again. Levi seized them for himself, kissing Eren with a bestial fervor he had never known before while his fingers worked hard to pleasure the mermaid.

He gnawed the lower lip, willing for Eren to open his mouth. And Eren did.

With wet squelches and lewd mewls did his tongue enter Eren’s mouth, two fingers stroking and rubbing his entrance, Eren didn’t have the zest to do anything but pant and fight for breath, belly sharply heaving. Levi rolled them down on the moss and climbed atop Eren, propping up his entire body weight on one elbow to spare Eren the pain.

“Levi…” Eren interjected but was silenced as they kissed on and on, chests rubbing over each other and purring furiously. Their tails swished about maddeningly and Eren’s hands glided over his dominant, feeling the art that Mother Nature had sculpted with her careful hands. Eren squealed as the fingers inside him hastened their pace and stroked him harder.

The moment burst, and so did Eren. His tail grew scorching hot and the slick dribbled into Levi’s hand in wet and sticky gushes.

Levi retreated and his tongue danced over the specks of colored scales over the mermaid’s shoulders, fresh dew drops undetectable amidst the mass of saliva. He turned the mermaid, peppering his body in kisses while Eren lay slack in his arms, breathing hard.

When Eren finally came down from his high, Levi pulled him again on his tail and set off to groom him.

Potential mates established a bond with each other primarily through grooming. Since merfolk were extremely protective of their privacy, grooming was the key to unlock the doors of trust. Too tired to resist, Eren obediently shifted to whichever position Levi turned him to. He leaned into Levi’s chest, squinting when the pink tongue ran over his cheeks.

A gentle purring filled the cave as Eren wriggled to get closer. Levi combed through his hair in slow, raking motions and before long, he had a sleeping Eren in his arms.


	13. The Royal and The Bastard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi is in trouble

Eyes fluttered open sleepily, the green underneath blurred.

Levi hoisted Eren higher on his tail, Eren’s back cushioned by Levi’s chest. They both rested against the stone walls of the cave. Eren still hadn’t escaped sleep’s tempting cage; he blinked his eyes around the cave dazedly.

Levi licked his cheek. “I’ve got something for you,”

Eren grumbled something and tucked his face away.

“Eren,” Levi cooed, slicking the tip of his triangular ear with his tongue before nibbling it. “Oi, I’ll chuck you in the water now,”

“Mrgh,”

“I’m not lying,” Levi pinched his waist and Eren jerked up with a squeak.

Scowling impressively at him, Eren slid off Levi's tail to land on the moss with a whisper of his fins. Giving his head a few shakes to wake up, Eren put his nose up in the air and sniffed eagerly. Levi watched the curve of his slender back, claws twitching.

“Fish?” Eren's tail flickered happily.

“Glutton, aren’t you?” Levi offered him a salmon. Before he could blink, the fish was swiped from his grip and was now between small canines, the poor head being mashed into red chunks. The salmon’s unmoving eye was trained on Levi in a mildly threatening glare, probably swearing for vengeance. He shrugged and busied himself with the rest of his capture.

Eren gobbled up the fish he was fed, shyly whining for more. Luckily for him, Levi had ventured out to gather them food when he had been asleep so there was enough for both of them. Levi tore pieces of salmon and handed it to Eren who ate it from his hand like an excited baby dolphin. Another smile crept up unawares.

What was Eren doing to him?

He didn’t want it to stop though.

When Eren couldn’t eat any further, Levi ate the remains. He tugged Eren to his side and they both curled up on the moss where midnight blue tail intertwined with turquoise at once. It seemed Eren was still caught in the aftermath of a deep sleep, so Levi combed his hair again and licked his glands to help him close his eyes. Neither of them talked. Eren vacantly stared at him, eyelids drooping.   
Drooping... drooping… drooping… almost there… a little  _bit_ more…

He was asleep.

Levi sighed and brought him closer, the scent of sweet lilies inviting him to lie down as well. He gladly accepted.

* * *

 

Claws out, fins extended, eyes unblinkingly trained on the glassy surface of the water, Levi strained to hear. His tail flapped angrily.

“Mm?” Eren squirmed next to him, one eye sleepily poking open. “Levi?” he tapped his tail. “Wha–?”

“Sleep,”

They had both been blissfully lost in sleep when a sudden crash in the lower chamber of the cave had slapped Levi awake. His defense mechanisms had instantly kicked in, instincts whirling with only one command lodged in his head – protect Eren. The mermaid was peacefully curled up next to him.

Levi waited to see if the intruder would be stupid and make more noise. He did not want to leave Eren, but if –

Another loud bump, followed by the rustling of fins. Levi’s ears relayed  _everything_ to him. Sharp, pointed ears flicked back and forth, deciphering more clumsy movement and – was that words he heard?

There was a mer in his cave.

A murderous growl tore through his throat, tail swishing malevolently. Claws raked the stone floor as Levi crawled to the water and dived, his heavy tail sending droplets of water raining behind him.

Gills open and circulating fresh air to his body, Levi quivered with feral energy, claws flexing in and out, yearning to rip this intruder to pieces like the salmon he had fed Eren. He emerged into the entrance chamber, eyes narrowing to make out the enemy in the dull glow cast by the crystals.

He caught a flash of orange scales.

“Hanji?” The ocean snuffed out his fire of rage and Levi settled for annoyance as the mermaid came into view, hickory hair swirling wildly above her head. He was about to demand why she had chosen to stumble around in his cave like a hooligan rather than call directly for him but stopped, distracted by the barely concealed panicked vibes her scent was giving off.

“Levi,” she sighed with obvious relief when she saw him and swam to him, butting their heads together. “When I returned to my cave only to find it empty, my head almost exploded,” she cupped his cheeks. “Couldn’t you both at least leave some kind of message behind?”

“I was in a hurry,” Levi mumbled. “Eren, he – wait, where were  _you_ the entire time?”

Hanji rubbed her brows, evidently vexed. “Moblit got hurt while on trooper duty. I was tending to his wounds at the sitter’s fortress. Nothing too bad –” she assured at his questioning look, “– but I was held up by trouble,”

“Trouble?”

Hanji took a deep breath, her constipated expression insinuating that something was horribly wrong. “Levi, she’s here,”

Levi stared appraisingly and then nodded in understanding. “Ok. Ah. ‘She’. Very specific Hanji, thank you. No, wait a second there, which fucking ‘she’ are you talking about?”

Angrily furrowing her brows, she wrenched her mouth open to elaborate when both mers froze. Levi’s ears were running haywire again, relaying more rustling of fins and the unmistakable swish of a tail. A second later, a sick, honeyed scent hit his nose and he stumbled backward, gagging.

Hanji was a beacon of nervous energy, her tail fluttering madly as the new mer approached. A magenta tail with delicate, pail fins and auburn hair highlighted her and she glowed blue around the edges, an effect caused by the shimmering light the crystals cast.

With a smile, she greeted, “Hello, Levi.”

Levi drew himself to his full height. “Petra.”

 _Hey, ocean? Fuck you_ , Levi thought.

“It’s been a year since we last interacted,” she tilted her head, threads of orange framing her face. “I’m sorry for how we parted ways. I may have been a tad upset,”

A  _tad_  upset was putting it mildly. Petra, a mermaid hell-bent on earning fame as the one and only mer to have succeeded in wooing Levi, had thrown a raucous fit after Levi had not-so-politely rejected her. Hanji loved bringing the incident up during their nights together in Isabel’s cave.

“Why are you in my cave?” Levi’s voice came out low and icy.

“My father, the  _King_ , sent me here to check on how well you were handling the situation with the missing mers. Any progress?”

“I discovered its lair and found the bodies of all the missing mers, the most recent one having been Reiner,” Levi used his best deadbeat tone. “I will inform this to the troopers of Trost, and we will set out for its lair the coming week. Reinforcement troopers from the village of Ovrud are one of my demands. Until then, the troopers and I will do our best to defend the village from any further attacks. No trooper is allowed to venture out alone from the village from here on now,”

“I see. I’ll relay the same to my father,” she nodded but didn’t move.

“Anything else?” Levi asked, tail swinging in impatience.

Petra bit her lip, her scent radiating angry waves. She clearly attempted to disguise it but failed miserably. “Word among the troopers and the merfolk is that you decapitated a merman to defend a… mermaid,”

Levi wanted to decapitate her, but he instead chose to say, “I am a merman. Not a barbarian. I deny these claims,”

“But you don’t deny that you brought a mermaid with you from your trip to the shore? A mermaid who, forgive me if my facts are wrong but,  _was strongly coated in your scent_? And is it also true that you were aggressive towards the mers on the scene because you wanted to protect this new mermaid friend of yours?”

 _Fuck you._  “Yes,”

Petra wore an oily smile. “Father will be thrilled upon hearing that his right-hand finally found himself a mate. But now, who’s this mer lucky enough to woo  _the_ Levi? May I be granted an audience with them?”

Levi paled, clenched fist trembling at his side. “He is asleep,”

 _No. Fuck off,_ was what Levi wanted to say. He couldn’t let her see Eren. He couldn’t let her see an unmarked mermaid in his cave.

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_  He turned to Hanji, silently pleading in his eye while suppressing the desperation and guilt in his scent. She stared back, bewildered.

Petra frowned. “Surely you can wake him. A few seconds of talk will not hurt,”

“He is  _asleep_ ,” Levi pressed on firmly. “He has been through too much and needs his rest,”

Her face turned ugly. “Alright then. You don’t have to wake him up, I’ll merely see him,”

“No,”

“Do you have any problems with me just seeing him?”

 _Fuck yeah, I do._  The King’s daughter woke up such prurient instincts in him that he’d gladly sing lullabies to a squid all day than playing the good merman with her. “No,” he said with teeth clenched so hard they almost punctured his gums. “But –”

“I will not disturb him,” she promised. “My father will want to know about this,  _Levi_ ,” the way his name was spoken aroused a thousand tingles that jumped from nerve to nerve. Levi prayed for the ocean to send a jellyfish waddling into his cave so that he could sting her with it.

If she saw the unmarked mermaid in his cave…  _fuck._

No unmarked mermaid was allowed to enter an unmated merman’s cave alone. It was a bloody strict rule and if word got out that Levi had broken it…

But it wasn’t like he had tried to rape Eren or anything – he’d never do that!

Petra sighed. “Levi, do you hate me so much as to deny me the chance to  _at least_  meet your mate? Please?”

“Levi,” Hanji broke in, swimming forward. “Just show her,”

How?! Levi silently demanded answers from her but he only received a shake of the head. Eren was unmarked! Eren wasn’t supposed to be in his cave, he wasn’t supposed to be sleeping on the moss bed without a clue of the danger he had put Levi into it – fuck, this was all Levi’s fault! If only he had taken Eren back to Hanji’s cave instead of his own – if only he had waited longer; but no, he had to lose it, he just  _had_ to be alone with Eren and feel his soft, soft body, his warmth –

“Levi,” Petra snapped him out of his agitated thoughts. “Just a quick look,”

He once again turned to Hanji.  _Give her what she wants_ , she mouthed.

His claws opened and closed, sweat mingling with the ocean. “Just a quick look,”

With a grateful nod, Petra swam past him and through the hole to the upper chamber.


	14. The Things We Do For Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanji and Levi talk

Levi acted fast.

Before Petra could see him, Levi pushed past her and climbed out of the water. He crawled to the moss bed and quickly picked up Eren, enveloping him in a hug so that he could hide Eren’s neck and shoulders. It would even put up a show of him being possessive.

He had to play with her for a while more. Pretend that he and Eren were already mated so that he could get out of trouble for having Eren in his cave.

When Petra approached them, Levi unfurled Eren’s tail and slightly turned Eren’s head to her side so that his face was visible. Petra gasped elaborately.

“Oh… he is  _lovely_ ,” she gushed, venom evident in her tone. She scooted closer, her auburn hair plastered to her face. Hanji emerged out of the water with a loud splash and after shaking her head, she too crawled over to them. She nodded at the way Levi had positioned him. Safe for now.

“You saw him. Now go,”

Petra blinked in surprise. “You don’t have to be this stingy,”

“I can behave however I want,” Levi snapped. “I believe your purpose here is done, so leave,”

Infuriatingly, Petra didn’t. She continued to survey Eren, her eyes raking over his tail and up to his waist. Levi reacted on instinct, his hand abandoning their perch on Eren’s shoulder to cover his torso instead. His beast did not like it when the mer looked at his Eren and neither did Levi.

A wretched frown appeared between her brows, foretelling trouble. “I don’t see any marks?”

Levi prayed for the ocean to send a ginormous tide into the cave and drown her. Which was impossible because one, the upper chamber of the cave was specifically carved to avoid that scenario and two, Petra was a fucking mermaid. He’d have better luck seducing a squid than drown a mermaid.

“I expected you to go all wild on him during the mating ritual,”

“I haven’t mated with him yet,” Levi was quick to answer. “I just claimed him a few days ago and he requested for some time to get adjusted,”

Petra wasn’t satisfied with his answer. “Be that as it may, even if you haven’t mated, why is his skin so… clean? Levi, the longer a merman stays without claiming a mate, the worse it gets for him to control his instincts when he finally does mate,” she pointed out. “You have been without a mate for more than ten years since your first rut, I know, and yet I do not see any signs of your claim?”

_Ocean, please. I beg you. Drown this mermaid._

As if on cue, Hanji grasped Petra by her shoulders and turned her away from Eren. “Come on your highness, you still have the little pups to meet and greet!” she positively yelled into her face and her tail swung with so much force behind Levi was afraid it might accidentally detach from her. “Let’s leave our grumpy friend here with his mate, shall we? I believe he is having trouble restraining himself from fucking that little mermaid he’s bagged over there,”

Levi was having more trouble restraining himself from strangling Petra, but he held Eren so firmly he was afraid the mermaid would stop breathing. To his immediate horror, Eren didn’t stop breathing (thankfully) but squirmed sleepily and his eyes fluttered open. He turned his head around to blankly stare at the mers gathered, ears flapping in annoyance.

“Eren, shhh,” Levi coaxed him to sleep, but the commotion had done its job well to wake him. Spotting Hanji, Eren’s face split into a wide grin. “Hello!” he greeted her, trying to break free from Levi’s crushing hold so that he could reach her. Levi grabbed him back and further squeezed him.

“Lev-“

“Hey, you still haven’t gotten your strength back yet. Lie down, Eren,”

“Levi, you’re suffocating me!”

“What? No, this is called a hug. I’m hugging you. Don’t be stupid Eren, I’m showing my affections,”

“Levi, your hugging skills are abominable; let me go,”

What Eren got instead was a mouthful of licking as Levi groomed him all over, his tongue slicking Eren’s face and combing his hair back. Eren struggled in his hold, angry about the unwanted saliva bath. He was clearly in no mood to be coddled and reproachfully eyed him, tail slapping the cave floor in irritation. When Levi didn’t relinquish his hold, he grumbled and turned away, only to capture Petra’s attention instead.

“Hello,” he greeted her politely and without the zeal he had shown to Hanji.

When Petra didn't return the greeting, Levi stepped in. “Eren, this is Petra. She’s the youngest daughter of the King of the mer civilization,”

Eren’s smile did not reach his eyes. “It is a great honor to meet you,”

And her smile in return was less amicable. “The same goes for me. Levi is and has been the right hand of my father for ages and… well,” she inhaled. “Father will be thrilled to know that you finally decided to...  _claim_  a mer,”

Levi did not like how she emphasized 'claim'.

Some invisible force must have linked his mind to Eren's for Eren moved, gently nudging Levi’s arms off him to better sit on his tail. As he did so, his shoulders and neck were thrown into light, the blue crystals lighting him up for all the mers to see. Levi’s jaw unhinged slightly.

Angry red scratches carelessly littered over tan skin. A spot above his breast had a mark that suspiciously looked like teeth. Levi met Hanji with a confused and ‘ _I don’t know what’s happening’_  look while Eren and Petra engaged in an intense stare-off to see who could pack more murder in their face. Petra’s claws curled inwards and her scent turned dangerously potent.

Levi seized Eren and forced him back into the shelter of his hug, rubbing his neck all over the mermaid’s and surprised them both – he had never scent marked Eren before. But he didn’t stop at any rate and vigorously coated Eren in the salty breeze that defined him. Eren stiffened and didn’t budge during the entire ritual. Levi elevated his scent, forcing it to turn feral without affecting Eren’s trigger response.

Sensing the aggressive vibes Levi sent out without any restraint, Petra leaned away from them. “Well, I must be on my way,”

 _Good thinking._  Levi nodded in approval.

“Hanji, we were to visit the pups you were saying?”

“That’s right!” she seized the topic at once and earned a grateful nod from Levi. “Come on, the younglings get real impatient; I remember once when I –”

It was Hanji’s favorite tactic – keep rambling about random nonsense to distract the unfortunate soul who needed to be gotten rid off until they eventually forgot the reason for their visit. Grabbing Petra by her upper arm, Hanji steered her away from Levi and dived into the water, dragging Petra with her. They disappeared with two loud splashes and a flicker of tails.

“Eren –”

“I was awake the entire time,” Eren revealed. “I could hear you downstairs, your scent was horrible; and when I found out what was going on…” Eren shifted and Levi let go of him. He slid down back onto the moss and stretched, back curving and hands high up in the air where fingers wriggled. Levi studied the red scratches and when their eyes met, they silently stared, processing what Eren had done. Then a snigger burst from Eren.

Levi’s lips twitched.

“So… you claimed yourself,”

“I’M THE WORLD’S FIRST SELF-CLAIMED MERMAID!” Eren cheered, whooping loudly and flopping back to the moss amidst peals of laughter. “I’M MY OWN MATE, BABY! WHOO!”

“You are insane,” Levi crept to him and draped his tail over them both. “Absolutely mental. A fucking idiot,”

“Forget that,” Eren sat up, eyes shining. “Does this mean I’ll go into a rut  _and_ a heat? How am I supposed to produce pups? Fuck myself? Answer me, Levi! I demand to know!” he broke up with a snigger and fell back again, laughing madly. “How will I get pregnant now?!”

“No, I don’t think you’ll get pregnant,” Levi said, flicking Eren’s forehead with a finger.

“That’s not fair! I’m a mermaid, I’m supposed to make babies!”

 “Ask your mate for help,”

“But my mate is not responding to me! Ask him yourself will you?” Eren pleaded with big, baby eyes and Levi knew he had to play along or get tossed out of his cave.

“Ok. I shall ask,” he cleared his throat. “Hello, Eren’s mate. Would you be so kind as to fuck him? He seems to be in dire need of making babies,”

Eren giggled louder than ever so Levi continued, “The problem is, you seem to be ignoring him and he is quite a slut for attention so please, answer my questions: how will you fuck Eren? Seeing as you especially do not have a cock,”

“Hey, I do have a cock!”

“No, you don’t,”

“Yes, I do!” Eren whinnied angrily.

“Ok, show me,”

Eren raised his hand to his mouth, then froze. He blinked dumbly at Levi, mouth open so wide that Levi thought he was about to swallow his palm.

“Nothing,” Eren put his hand back down.

Levi frowned. “Are you feeling alright?” he sniffed at the air for possible distress emanating from his scent – Eren could never conceal his emotions; whether it be his scent, face or eyes, he revealed everything. Levi sensed a hint of apprehension behind the sweetness of lily. Maybe Eren felt threatened by Petra’s sudden visit?

“Eren?” Levi rubbed his neck over the mermaid’s. Eren blinked rapidly, body rigid and unyielding. Worried, Levi nudged him a few more times with his nose. Eren stared blankly into the cave wall, eyes wide open. Then he shuddered and blinked a dozen more times, prompting Levi to check his eyes to see if there was something stuck in it.

“I’m fine,” Eren mumbled, fingers caressing the palm he had brought up to his mouth earlier.

“Are you sure?”

Eren nodded. Then he said, “Levi, can I go out?”

“Out?”

“Into the water?” Eren’s tail flicked towards the small hollow that the tides had weathered into the cave floor. “Maybe go out and around the village? Please?”

Levi considered his request. As much as he wanted Eren to stay inside for a while longer, the mermaid clearly did not like to be confined to the wet chamber that now reeked unpleasantly with the mixture of hostile scents that were Levi’s, Eren’s and Petra’s. He had to be let out.

“Would you like to see Mikasa again?”

Eren perked up at that. “And Armin too? I want to see Armin; I like him, he makes me feel nice,”

“That’s because he is a mermaid,” Levi explained, pulling Eren with him as they crawled back to the edge of the water and dived with loud splashes. “Mermaids always enjoy the company of other mermaids,”

“What about mermen?”

“We’re more… reserved. No two mermen get along as easily as two mermaids do,” Levi took him out of the cave and Eren performed another delighted loop at the prospect of being outside again. He really wasn’t the type to be kept in cramped spaces, Levi mused. No wonder Eren loved the shore so much.

“Eren, do you hate it here?”

Eren thought hard for a while. “It’s not as open and wide as the shore…” he answered slowly. “But it’s not bad. The least I could do is give it a chance before pegging all my opinions,”

“I’m glad,” Levi returned and he meant it. Eren would stop trying to run away if he learned to be comfortable in this place. That would buy Levi some time to take care of the creature terrorizing the shore whilst equipped with the fact that Eren’s safety was assured.

“I’ll take you to Mikasa. You can hang around her and Armin until I get back,”

Eren stopped. “Where are you going?”

“To inform the troopers of what I found. I seem to recall I was deprived of that chance because a certain mer took matters into his own hand and ran away,” he looked back at Eren to find satisfyingly red cheeks.

“I’m sorry,”

“Mm. Now let’s find you a babysitter because I have work to do,”

* * *

 

“None of you are allowed to venture out beyond the fifth cover of cliffs. Understood?”

The troopers were all big, brutish mermen with heavy physiques and thick tails that could wrap around a mer’s skull and pulverize it to powder. Each hand ended in a retractable hooked claw whilst razor sharp fins ran from their upper arms to their elbows and down the spine of their back. Each one had been brought up to kill and fight.

Predators like him.

“When are we to move out?” Ness enquired.

“As soon as we get some backup troopers from Ovrud,” Levi had discarded the face of the gentle and playful merman he used with Eren and now donned his Commander's face. “I have already told this to Petra. She’ll see to it that we get the mermen,”

“Why can’t we go out on our own?” Gelgar demanded, making Levi switch his attention to him. He genuinely did not understand what was wrong with Gelgar’s hair and didn’t bother to ask – while the mers’ hair floated above them in ever-moving and swiveling strands, his formed a colloidal lump on his head. More than once, Levi had mistaken him for the offspring of a hammerhead shark.

“Because I found the lair of the beast and the corpses of all the missing mers. If something can take down  _those_ many troopers that were bigger and scarier, not to mention had better hair, than you Gelgar,” Levi threw a glare at the outbreak of giggles, “Forgive me for saying so, but I don’t think you’ll stand a chance,”

“Why don’t you fight it yourself then?” His neck and cheeks flushed and his eyes seemed too tiny for his face. “You’re the strongest, you can bring it down easily. Or are you scared?”

“Sadly, I don’t happen to be an idiot,” Levi returned calmly. “I don’t know anything about this creature – its weaknesses, its strengths, its fighting patterns… rushing straight into the cave like a bamboozled puffer fish is the least of my intentions. If I die, tell me, who the fuck will babysit you sad lot, huh?”

“He’s got a point,” Eld snickered. “I don’t think you’ll find another Commander with Levi’s patience,”

Gelgar retreated and folded his arms. “Right. We’ll go together then,”

“Good boy,” Levi cooed and received another round of hastily suppressed laughter. “We’ll set out once I give the command. Until then, all of you are to take patrol on turns. This shit fest has gone long enough and it’s time we put an end to that fucker out there on the beach,”

“Hear, hear,” Eld grinned. “By the way, how are you doing with your mate?”

Levi snapped his head to him. “What?”

“Your mate,” Eld repeated slowly. Then, “The mermaid you brought from the shore.  _Your_  mermaid,”

Levi prayed to the ocean for the millionth time that day. His prayers now were to grant him four extra pairs of arms to strangle Eld with. Or send an octopus towards their way. Maybe Levi could bribe it with some shrimps in exchange for murder.

“I am terribly grieved to inform you that he is none of your business,” Levi maintained his cool. Some light-hearted jabbing was expected and favored every now and then, but he was still their commander and as such, it was his duty to put them in their place when their fins crossed the line.

Eld seemed to have realized this for he cleared his throat and went back to sitting quietly on the rock.

“Any other questions?” Levi looked around at them all – thirty troopers tasked with defending the village of Trost.

The barbarian at the shore had killed two hundred.

When none of them spoke, Levi dismissed them and swam away. He had to find Hanji now. 

* * *

 

“Levi, I don’t think you convinced Petra,”

“Brilliant,” Levi scowled. “Now I just have to wait for her father to come and chew my head out,”

Hanji offered him half of a salmon which he declined. He had already eaten his share with Eren.

“Are you sure?”

Levi shook his head. Shrugging, Hanji stuffed the salmon in her mouth and chewed noisily. His upper lip curled.

“Can you stop making that noise?”

“No,” Hanji said thickly, bits of fish escaping her overloaded mouth. Her cheeks bulged as she asked, “What are you gonna do with Eren?”

“Feed him. Take care of him. Make sure he doesn’t run rampant,”

Hanji tried to swallow but the half-chewed salmon clogged her throat instead. She blew up and wheezed wildly, hands flailing above her head. Levi watched with his best poker face. This was a daily ritual for him; no matter how many times he scolded her to eat with her mouth shut, his words whooshed right over her head. After coughing and whacking herself on the head a few times, she finally managed to swallow the damn thing. She spluttered and looked up with red eyes.

“Fuck, I hate salmon,” she coughed again.

“Don’t worry. Salmons are not fond of you either,”

“Right. Now, onto pressing matters,” she wrung her hands and shook her head, licking her teeth to get at the leftover chunks of fish. “Levi, you cannot let him stay in your cave. If you two are caught –”

“I know what happens if we are caught. And I don’t give a fuck; Eren needs to stay at someplace safe,”

Hanji sighed. “The sitters’ fortress. He’ll be safe there,”

“No,”

“Levi –”

“I don’t want him in a place I cannot monitor,”

Eren would try to run away again. Or he might have a panic attack about Erwin and what then? The sitters were mermaids who looked after pups and healed injured mers, so Levi didn’t have to worry about any mermen trying to claim Eren for themselves. On the other hand, he wasn’t just going to give Eren away to a bunch of mers to take care of – Levi was the only one Eren knew well enough to trust and he couldn’t just abandon the mermaid in an unknown place. He had to be there for Eren.

“Then what?”

Levi didn’t answer.

He would be exiled if the word were to reach the King that he had violated an ancient rule. Even if Levi hadn’t done anything to defile Eren, breaking the rules led to punishment and no mer was above being punished. His reputation was at stake as well. They knew him as a mer of duty and he did not want them to believe otherwise.

“I don’t want you in trouble,” Hanji silenced him before he could open his mouth to argue by saying, “I don’t want Eren in trouble either,”

“What should I do then? Let him go back to the shore with that monster still prowling around? You weren’t there, you didn’t see the damn thing’s lair! You didn’t see the dead mers, Hanji. They were all fucking torn open and Reiner was among them. That creature is barbaric! I can’t let Eren return there! He’s safer here!” Levi protested. No, he wouldn’t let Eren go back to the shore until the creature had been killed and even then Levi doubted that he’d let the mermaid return.

“Levi, you broke an ancient and sacred tradition. Eren saved you, but you can’t let it go on; sooner or later, mers will believe you have claimed him and then what?  _What will you do_? Will you both pretend to be mates? Think of Eren! How would he feel about pretending to be mated with you? Merfolk mate for life, Levi!”

“That is an extremely useful piece of information… thank you oh wise one,” Levi retorted dryly, but retorts were all he could manage now. Hanji was exactly right; merfolk mated for life and if word got out that he had ‘claimed’ Eren, then…

“Levi, listen to me,” she hissed. “You and Eren cannot pretend to be mates for your entire life; sooner or later, you will have to face the consequences of your actions. Why,  _why_  did you bring him into your cave?! What were you thinking?!”

For once, Levi let her words goad him into feeling guilty. His tail swished agitatedly as he answered, “I just wanted to be alone with him for a bit… he doesn’t understand how things work here Hanji; I wanted to chew his head out and I wanted to do it somewhere private. I wanted to tell him how things worked here,”

“Did you now?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm. “Yelling at someone and explaining how the village works don’t require to specifically go into  _your_  cave. Are you sure weren’t doing…  _something else_?”

Her words rang out sharply in the dark cave and Levi knew he had shrunk a few sizes under Hanji’s intense glare. Meeting her scathing eyes, he nodded.

Hanji smacked her palm to her head. “Mermen,” she muttered, “and the mental things they do for a mate,”

Levi’s claws opened and closed. His tail seemed unsure how to react, so it simply hung still.

After a lengthy silence, Levi rubbed his eyes and exhaled. “Hanji, what should I do?”

She folded her arms. “I have three options. Choose which one you prefer,”

Levi gave a small jerk of his head to show that he was following her.

“Alright then,” Hanji inhaled. “Listen up. The first option is to go and fess up. Petra will definitely tell her father that you have a mate. Every mer knows how much the King values you, so I won’t be surprised if he comes waddling straight here to squash you in a hug and congratulates you. And the first thing he’s gonna ask is if you have fucked him yet or not.

“Confess what you did, and the King might even let you off leniently. You have served Paradis for so long… defending it and attacking every new foe now and then; he won’t punish you too harshly. So confess before things get out of hand and become ugly. I don’t want the entire kingdom to drown in nasty rumors about you,”

“There is no  _fucking_ way will I give Petra the satisfaction of seeing me being all meek and sorry. Next option,”

“I knew that,” Hanji rolled her eyes. “Option two is a bit elaborate,”

Levi grunted. “Get on with it then,”

“Pretend that Eren is your beloved, darling little mate. Next week, the troopers and you are going to hunt down the monster right? You’ll take Eren with you, and if anyone questions, tell them it’s because he knows how to get there. Create some sort of ruckus over there; in the ensuing chaos, Eren swims somewhere safe, and you pretend to be the terrified mate who’s looking for his precious mermaid before assuming the monster killed him and coming back to Trost with a broken heart. Everyone will be oh-so-very sad that the merfolk’s strongest lost his mate before he could have any pups with him, and you just have to be the tragic hero for a while. Don’t talk to anyone, glare at every mer like you want to feed them to a shark and be rude. Just be yourself, basically,”

“Brilliant idea Hanji,” Levi praised sourly. “Except for one tiny problem: leaving Eren alone out there, at the fucking shore, with a fucking monster on the loose. NO!” Levi yelled. “I will NOT abandon him, nor will I pretend that he is dead!”

“You’re the one who dragged him into this mess!” Hanji yelled back, jabbing a finger into his chest.

“And that means I have to fix it. After everything he’s been through and all that I did to him, just throwing him away like as though he was a toy I was using for my amusement is… is… it’s… fuck, I can’t describe it, but no. Think about Eren. Think about how he’ll feel… he will hate me forever… and,” Levi’s voice shook, remembering Erwin and the bruises he had left on Eren as punishment for Eren’s resistance.

“I can’t abandon him. I won’t abandon him. He’ll be devastated…fuck Hanji, that would be the cruelest thing any mer could ever do to him,”

“Why?” Hanji was beside him now, one hand on his shoulder. “He said he had lived at the beach his entire life and I find that weird Levi; why wasn’t he brought up here?”

“Believe me, I have thought about that too. Eren only said his mother didn’t want him to come here… but I don’t understand why she was too keen on hiding him away there, especially with Erwin and humans on the loose,”

“Erwin?”

Levi clenched his fist. Icy blue eyes were in front of him, challenging him with a leer. “There’s this mer… he keeps troubling Eren and abusing him… he wants Eren to bond with him but Eren doesn’t want to,”

“Ah.” Hanji straightened up at once. “We can’t let Eren return to the shore then. Fucking mermen who just can’t learn to accept the word ‘no’…” she grumbled angrily, making fists in the water. “Option two is scratched off,”

“So, I have to confess then?” Levi asked in a small voice. He didn’t want to go and lower himself before the King, but if it was the only way to save himself and Eren from trouble…

“Hold up grumpy; I did mention three choices and I haven’t even said the third one,”

“What?”

Her orange tail swished excitedly and she vibrated from head to fin. Levi groaned internally – this was going to be a terrible option for sure. Best to get on with it then.

“Claim him,”

“What?” Had he heard that properly? It was hard to tell with Hanji.

“Why not?!” She enthused. “You want him, don’t you? So claim him! The King can’t be mad at you for taking a mermaid into your cave for claiming as long as the mermaid consents! And why would Eren refuse after all that you’ve done for him? You’re the best candidate for his mate!”

Levi thought.

_Not yet._

The words bounced off the walls in his mind, echoing loudly every time they did.  _Not yet. Not yet. Not yet._

Eren hadn’t said ‘no’ when Levi had tried to bite him. He had said ‘not yet’

Levi’s heart picked up the pace and its drums reverberated to every inch of his body as the gears in his brain whirred madly –

If he continued to treat Eren in this manner, if he showed Eren how different from Erwin he was and how good he would be, then would Eren in time come to accept his courtship?

“Levi?” Hanji’s voice attempted to bring him back to the moment but Levi waved it off.

Yes! Eren didn’t hate him; Eren let Levi touch him! Eren wasn’t afraid of him! Eren had pleasured Levi’s cock and in return had let Levi finger him! Who was to say that at this pace, Eren would reject him? If Levi was the good, gentle merman, then why would Eren turn him away? He could make Eren his! He could… he could… he could… oh  _fuck…_

Having Eren for a mate… his beast crooned.

That would be the most  _wonderful_  thing he could ever ask for.

They’d spend their heats and ruts together. They could laze around in the cave, rolling on the moss bed and cuddle from day to night! Levi would catch them their meals and he would feed it to Eren, no problem. He would make Eren laugh, tease him, sleep with him and… and… and…

And have a family with him…

Eren, without a doubt, was more than capable of producing healthy pups and being a great mother, proved when Levi explored the mermaid’s clit – soft and firm, meaning Eren was fruitful and not yet touched. Eren would be safe and protected here in the cave with the pups for company. If he got bored, he could leave the pups with the sitters who would take care of them and explore the ocean with Mikasa and Armin! Mikasa was fierce when it came to protecting the ones close to her and if Levi asked, she’d protect Eren no matter what. Levi knew that she would keep Eren safe if he wasn’t around.

Eren could also go the shore whenever he wanted; Levi wouldn’t restrict him… no, he would never do that! He wouldn’t take away Eren’s freedom. Eren could do as he pleased and in return, Levi would have a mate.

Levi could take him to the depths of the ocean where they could explore many more caves and hunt for treasures. If Eren wanted to be spoiled and fed, Levi would do it. If Eren wanted company, he would give him. If Eren wanted Levi’s heart… well, he didn’t have to ask for it. It was already his.

Levi would keep him happy. Levi would never have to be lonely ever again…

His beast rolled around, purring at the thought of curling up beside the mermaid’s soft body every night.

“Levi. Levi. Hey. OI!” Hanji snapped her fingers at him, shaking him out of his boisterous thoughts. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Option three,”

“What?”

“I’ll claim him,” Levi decided firmly. “I want him. I want him to be mine. I want him to be my mate!”

Hanji appeared to be shaken by his sudden declaration. “Woah. Calm down, grumps. I didn’t –”

“Why not?” Hanji’s earlier excitement was now affecting Levi. Why not?! What was stopping him from claiming Eren apart from Eren’s hesitance? If he could show him, make Eren feel more comfortable…

“Levi, are you sure about this?” She voiced skeptically. “I mean, claiming a mate is a great deal. I remember how terrified Moblit was when I finally let him mark me,”

“Hanji, I’ve never been this sure in my life; you don’t get it – I’ve been mad for him ever since we first met. He’s… he is, oh fuck, I can’t say something like this to save my life – Hanji, he is  _fucking beautiful_. He’s so… he’s so  _energetic_ , like full of life that it makes  _me_  feel alive. Do you know how much I learned from him while we were at the beach? And no, I’m not referring about humans, I mean other stuff too… he’s sometimes too much to handle – I feel like not even ten sitters would be enough to look after him – he’s strong, so damn  _strong…_ and so stubborn that he could probably go and ram his head against a shark and the shark would go back bleeding while Eren would just laugh at it… and, fuck!

“He’s… he’s  _everything_  that I want for in a mate. He’s enough for me. I don’t want him to be perfect, he isn’t perfect, but he’s enough. He’s more than enough. Not a second passes by without me wanting to have him here, right beside me. Do you have any idea how badly I want to grab him and  _bite_ him? I want to sink my teeth in him and hear him scream my name, but I have to always hold back because I’m so terrified of scaring him away… I’m so scared of hurting him because look at me!” Levi showed her his claws and fins. “What if I accidentally hurt him? But I still want him, I still want to mark him and see my marks on him… I, fuck! I have tried so hard to please him, I’ve done so much so that he could see me as a good merman…"

Levi panted for breath. Oh fuck, he had so,  _so_ much more to say. He had to blurt everything out now because he’d never open up like this ever again. He  _needed to tell_ everything. His smile, his warmth, the way he stuck his tongue out a little when he slept, the way his nose crinkled when he frowned…

“He didn’t know shit about me Hanji. He could have shoved me away or ran away from me, but he chose to give me a chance. He didn’t see me as a big, bad, scary merman; no, he stayed with me, he trusted me, he fucking made me hold otters and he… he didn’t care about me being a bastard or anything at all! And he’s cuddly. He is very cuddly. I like cuddling with him. I didn’t know I would like cuddling with another mer, but I like it with him. He is so  _warm._  He is so  _soft._

“Hanji… I won’t let any merman claim him,” Levi swore, chest heaving from his word vomit. “I won’t. I won’t, I WON’T! I’ve come so far! I am so close to finding myself a mate, a mermaid to share my cave with after all these years, I  _refuse_  to let Eren go!”

Levi stopped and took a huge breath. Fuck. Now he would have to stay quiet for eighty years to restore the balance in the ocean.

Hanji simply gawked, her eyes bulging so wide he thought they’d probably pop out.

“What?” he demanded defensively. Right. He talked too much. Fuck, when did he ever do that?

She merely continued to ogle at him. It unnerved Levi; his tail agreed and expressed so by swinging crossly. Levi finally lost it.

“Hey, shit-face, can you talk? Should I cut open your throat or something?”

Silence.

“Hanji!”

“Fuck me with a stingray,” she marveled. “Wow. I think you used more words in this single conversation than you did in all your conversations put together…”

“Thank you for stating the obvious,”

“Ok. Ok. Fuck me with a stingray, please,”

“No can do. Can I use a jellyfish?”

“No can do. Ok, now it’s easier!” Hanji squealed and beamed at him, her maniacal grin wider than he had ever seen it. “Levi! Oh, I’m so proud of you!” she launched herself at him, crushing him and his feeble protests in the tightest hug he had ever received. “Levi! You are finally gonna have a mate!”

“Not yet,” he gasped.

Hanji slackened her grip. “What? Why not?!”

“Eren doesn’t want to,”

“He doesn’t want to?! But why?!” she bellowed into his year incredulously, disbelief etched on her face. It was followed by anger. “Don’t tell me you did something to him?” she began in a dangerous tone.

Levi put his hands up at once. “I would  _never_ ,”

“Then why –”

“He’s still dealing with Erwin’s treatment. I want to take my time and show him I’m not the same,”

“Ah,” Hanji nodded in understanding. It was scary how quickly her moods could twist around. One second she was happy as a clam and the next second, she would be seen rampaging around the entire village, ready to take down a pregnant whale.

“You do that,” she clapped him on the back with baffling strength. “Show him the benefits of fucking you. He’ll like that. Seduce him with your shit jokes. Try not to be grumpy,”

“Noted. Any other advice?”

Hanji contemplated on something hopefully more beneficial. The sly grin she showed to him seconds later probably meant that she had.

“I think you ought to show Eren your special cave,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoooooooooooooooooooooo! Levi's feelings for Eren man... my hands are cramping, I'm gonna stop typing for 173646 years.  
> Just kidding. Love you all.  
> Kudos and Comments are always appreciated <3  
> (Also, lol, look at the title. Look at it. I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan and I couldn't resist)


	15. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin and Isabel show Eren how the merfolk gather food.  
> Heads-up, there's a tiny bit of violence here!

_I told you. I told you a million times but you just refuse to listen._

_Numb and blank his mind stayed as he stared at the endless stream of crimson flowing in front of him. The merman lay dead, eyes staring ahead without any light, guts strewn out._

_Look at what you’ve done, he cooed. Look at the mess you created._

_Look at all the lives you’ve taken, Eren…_

_Bodies littered the cave, bodies of humans as well as the merfolk, mashed up into an unrecognizable grotesque artifact for display. Tears flowed down his face but what good were they? What good were they when_ he _was the reason they were dead?_

_They’ll never accept you. You don’t belong there. You don’t belong here. You don’t belong anywhere._

_Think about it, Eren. You were never meant to be. Nature must have been out of her mind when she let you be born into this world._

Eren wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and run away from the village. He didn’t want to spend any more time here with anyone. Especially Levi.

The small twitches of the corners of his mouth when he struggled not to smile but failed anyway, the way he held Eren with so much care, his stoic and indifferent exterior that melted away to a sweet and gentle merman on the inside, the way he made Eren feel loved… it was all too much for the poor mermaid who had known nothing but pain and fear for all his life.

Every time Eren thought about the life he could have with Levi, his stomach churned. He could be happy. Levi had proved himself as an exceptional merman; Eren knew that Levi would never try to control him like Erwin. He could stay in the village with the other mers… Armin was sweet and Mikasa… well, she wasn’t bad either. And Hanji… Hanji didn’t know him, but she had instantly stepped up to help him and Levi. Twice.

He could have a family. He could finally have a home.

So what was stopping him from obtaining it? It was so close, tantalizingly close, but every time Eren reached out for it, it would swim further away…

Levi had found out about the lair; it had taken all of Eren’s will to not panic and run out of the cave when he had overheard the conversation between him and Petra.

_Because I knew where it was. I knew and yet, I didn’t show it to you._

He had tried to distract Levi from the lair, leading him on a wild hunt to look for seashells, taking him to caves and doing anything he could to make the merman forget about his mission and drive him out of the territory. How was he supposed to know he’d end up falling for the merman and end up here of all places? To end up at the place he had desperately tried to avoid his entire life and with the merman who didn’t even try and had found himself owning Eren…

_Should I tell you?_

_How much longer should I stay here? How much longer should I pretend? How much longer should I lie to you Levi? I want you to let me go, but I don’t know if I could let_ you _go._

Eren’s eyes grew moist and he closed them, trying to hide his face.

He was scared. Levi would no doubt be furious for not telling him sooner; how could Eren explain that he was only doing it for not only his safety but also for Levi’s as well? Eren couldn’t tell anyone; there was no telling what type of hell he’d unleash on the little village by doing so.

But then, if he did tell, his condition would not see any light either.

Levi would take him for a coward. Levi who was so strong, and had never bowed down to any obstacle in his life and had come up to the top. Levi who was perfect in every way possible. Levi who valued strength and despised weakness. Levi who stood so tall and proud, unlike Eren who was the stuff stuck at the bottom of people’s shoes.

Levi would be disappointed and disgusted with him if he told him the truth.

What could he do? He couldn’t run away – not now that he had given himself fake mating marks. Petra believed that he was Levi’s and he’d land Levi in great trouble if he disappeared like that. Should he pretend to be Levi’s mate? For eternity?

What if Levi decided to claim him to make their relationship seem more real? What would he do then? The prospect of becoming Levi’s partner terrified Eren more than anything in the world but also felt like the sweetest gift he could ever have. His body was completely mature and ripe for breeding, and if Levi decided to mate with him, Eren couldn’t stop him. He knew Levi wouldn’t force it, but sooner or later, he would ask as to why Eren didn’t want to. How could Eren explain? He could always say he wasn’t fertile, but Levi had already explored his clit. He knew Eren was perfectly capable of birthing pups.

And for how long could Eren deny Levi? The merman had given so much to him… it would be a new low for Eren to not give anything in return. And Eren wouldn’t mind mating with Levi either. If it wasn’t for what he was, he would have already allowed Levi to mark him.

If he stayed silent, if he didn’t tell anything and went about with his lies… could he save himself from this mess somehow?

But if he stayed silent… then the troopers wouldn’t know… if they ventured to the shore without knowing…

Their blood would be on Eren’s hands, forever a grim reminder of how despicable and pathetic he was. The monster would no doubt terrorize the village further, and one way or another, it would get its hands on Eren. And when it did, Eren knew his miserable life would come to an end.

_I told you… I told you a million times to just give up and submit to me. You didn’t._

_What will you do now Eren?_

_I could just tell them what you are. I can turn you over to them. The merfolk would be horrified._

_Levi… please_ , Eren found himself praying. _Levi, please help me. Please, get me out of this mess. Please forgive me…_

How? How was he supposed untangle these knots? How was he supposed to survive?

If only he had never met Levi… if only he had stayed at the shore… if only he had never been fucking born, these things would have never happened at all. Those troopers wouldn’t have died. His mother wouldn’t have died.

 _You need to live, love. Do you hear me? Live no matter what_.

Warm honey eyes were in front, wisps of brown hair floating around her sweet, kind face. Oh, how Eren _longed_ to see her gentle smile again… to be held in her strong embrace again… to be scolded again and later kissed and coddled… how he longed to sleep with her tail curled around him…

_Live, love. Don’t let them get you._

Eren forced his tears to stay back as he pulled himself together.

No, if he had to survive, he had to be strong. He wouldn’t die like this. He wouldn’t die sniffling like a little baby. For what it was worth, he would live. He would fight no matter what. He would always fight.

* * *

“Hello!”

“Eren!” Armin squealed and instantly whooshed to his side, arms extending outwards as he crashed into Eren and locked him in a fierce hug. Eren butted their heads together, reveling in the scent of fresh coconuts. Levi was right – being around another mermaid really did make him feel better.

“Armin,” Levi called and the blonde whirled around, eyes wide and scared. “Stick to him, will you? Ask Mikasa as well; I have some work to do,”

“W-Will do,”

“Thank you,” he nodded and reached out to bring his and Eren’s noses in a nuzzle. “I’ll come back later,” he planted a lick on Eren’s nose.

Eren knew by now that mers frequently engaged in one or another sort of physical contact for literally anything. Catching Levi’s hopeful gaze, Eren too gave his nose a quick lick and a smile. Content, Levi swam away, his dark tail swishing lazily behind him.

“You both are mates?” Armin enquired, the astonishment evident in his tone. His fingers skimmed over Eren’s glands, studying the scratches and bite marks.

“Of course not,” another voice scoffed before Eren could correct him. Mikasa descended from above them, her piebald tail curled elegantly which concealed the serrated fins at the end.

“Excuse me?” Eren barred his neck, showing off his marks.

“Psh,” Mikasa swam closer, placing a hand next to his scent glands. Eren furiously suppressed the involuntary shudder that her touch evoked – he would _not_ treat her like a freak.

“Mermen bite the scent glands when they claim their mates,” she explained. “They bite every part of skin they can get and leave deep gashes with their talons. Newly mated mermaids are a sorry sight; they look like a swarm of piranhas had got to them,” she looked at him seriously and Eren’s happy fantasies about her lying vanished at once.

“The longer the merman has been without a mate, the more bestial they become when marking. They become even more aggressive during the mating. You can generally tell how long the merman has been without a mate by looking at the mermaids; if their claim marks are really loud and crass, it means the merman has been alone for a really long time. Even if the merman hasn’t been that lonely, they’ll still leave really crude marks because… well, they’re mermen. They are crude. Your petite little claws, no wait – _nails_ – are capable of only tickling mermen. You look like you got into a fight with an angry clownfish,”

“What she’s trying to say,” Armin interrupted kindly, “is that if a mer like Levi who has been _so long_ without a mate were to finally claim a mermaid, he’d… he won’t exactly be soft and gentle about it. These are just scratches that can heal in seconds,” Armin brushed one of the red lines with a finger. “Mating marks don’t heal for _days._ I remember when I finally let Jean claim me… it was a _nightmare_ ,” Armin shuddered.

Eren processed this new information, feeling flabbergasted. “So… that means Petra didn’t buy my act?”

Armin’s eyes widened. “Petra? You know her?”

“I don’t,” Eren said and quickly explained what had happened and how he had got his fake marks.

When he was finished, Mikasa whistled. “Of all the mers to break the cave rule, it _had_ to be Levi,”

“What cave rule?”

“Oh, you don’t know? Unclaimed mermaids are not allowed inside unmated mermen’s caves. For safety,” she added in response to Eren’s questioning look.

“I don’t think Petra believed you Eren,” Armin said. “A mer like Levi would never leave such flimsy marks,”

“She went away without saying anything though,”

“Knowing Levi,” Mikasa rolled her eyes, “he must have probably threatened her to leave you alone,”

The horrible scents that clouded the cave after she had left… was that Levi’s doing?

“Petra was one of the mers who tried to court Levi,” Mikasa interrupted his thoughts. “He rebuffed her and none too gracefully?”

“Really?” Eren’s tail swished, eager to know more. The thought of another mer courting Levi pissed him off to no extent and his chest swelled with angry red bubbles; but Levi had refused her. Not bothering to hide a smug smile, he listened to Mikasa’s tale.

“Levi grabbed a squid passing by and used it against her. She threw a dreadful fit after that because she was sure he’d accept her, with Petra being the King’s daughter and all… Levi didn’t. He was downright horrible to her because he was going through another one of his temperamental attacks,”

“What?”

Mikasa crossed her arms with a scowl. “It happens from time to time. Since Levi hasn’t attempted to court any mer or claim them for so long, he gets these sudden outbursts of temper… it’s basically his bestial instincts trying to rise to the surface and take control over him – the longer you stay without a mate to keep you grounded, the harder it is to tame your primal urges to bite and mark. He turns absolutely vicious,”

Eren wondered what it would be like to see Levi in a rage. He was so used to seeing the cool and composed version of him – would Levi become angry enough to kill a mer? His mind automatically jumped to Levi’s physical attributes – the sharp fins along his arms and back, his claws and canines.

He could tear anything into shreds, no problem.

Eren shook his head. This was Levi, not Erwin, he reminded himself. Levi wouldn’t do anything as barbaric as taking another mer’s life in cold blood.

“I’m surprised Petra was actually allowed to come here, you know, with what happened to her aunt and all,” Armin interjected. “The King doesn’t allow his children to come to the shore, even if they’re accompanying him,”

“Why, what happened to her aunt?” Eren asked curiously.

Armin and Mikasa both donned somber expressions. “About twenty years or so, when Levi was still a trooper in training, the King had popped in for a visit to check on the recruits. He had let his little sister tag along. She wanted to visit the shore and gather some shells, so she went out, past the safety of the cliffs. And she never returned. A search party was sent and the King himself went when they failed. They didn’t get her back. He has had a distaste for the shore since then and strictly forbade mers from wandering out there frequently,” Armin finished, frowning. “I wonder how Petra came here – Trost being one of the outermost villages in the colony and all…”

Petra’s detour was the least of his concern. Eren was more interested in the missing mermaid.

“Do you think humans might have captured her?”

“That could be possible… but if it’s true, then she’s long gone,”

“Huh,”

Twenty years ago…

He hadn’t even been born back then. If he had found a lost mermaid whilst his time at the shore, he could have returned her home in exchange for the merfolk’s gratitude and acceptance. The perfect bargaining chip to let him live his life in peace.

But the humans… could they have found her?

No. If they had, Eren would have known.

“So, what are we gonna do until Levi returns to pick me back?” he changed the subject. He was free to do as he pleased until Levi finished his duties as a trooper but couldn’t leave. He could wander about the village and learn more from Armin, who seemed eager to babble everything he knew anyway.

“Well… what would you like to do?” Armin piped, tail swinging. They had met merely hours ago but if any mer tried to pick a bone with him, Eren knew he wouldn’t hesitate to beat them to a pulp. Armin’s big blue eyes and eager smile sent heavy vibes of ‘pure, innocent ray of sunshine’ and Eren knew he had to protect him or else suffer the ocean’s wrath. He met Mikasa’s eyes and they too had the same overwhelming amount of fierceness swirling in them.

Was this how Armin’s mate felt towards him as well?

“I… erm, I still don’t know much about deep water mers and their habits, so…” he left the sentence hanging, hoping Armin would fill it with something interesting.

Mikasa and Armin looked at each other, contemplating what to show him.

“Well, we could –” she broke off, eyes wide.

“We could…?”

“We could…” Mikasa’s voice drifted away dreamily. Her face went slack, eyes unfocused as she stared at some unknown entity some odd feet behind Eren.

Armin groaned and turned away, grumbling something that suspiciously sounded like ‘not again’

Eren whirled around to look behind him. Merfolk swam past, their dark tails and fins flapping with the ocean waves and waking small bubbles here and there. Eren looked back and forth between Mikasa and whatever she was ogling at, but he couldn’t see any matter of specific interest, save for a crab that scuttled over one of the rocks, tried to jump and bonked into a mer who took off screaming.

“Wow. We could race each other with crabs trying to take a bite out of us,” Eren agreed. “But I’d prefer something else. What do you suggest Mikasa?”

She didn’t respond, still rooted to her spot. But her body spoke – the black tail swished with great gusto and her scent suddenly surrounded Eren from nowhere; she smelled like… citrus – freshly cut lemons.

“Mikasa, are you alright?”

“Armin, take care of him,” was all Mikasa said before pushing Eren aside and swimming into the heart of the crowd of mers.

Armin took hold of his arm and pulled him away. “Leave her. She just spotted the love of her life,”

“What? Where?!” Eren twisted in his grip and strained his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of the mermaid Mikasa was courting. He followed the piebald tail which led him to a mer with long blonde hair that swarmed her face and icy eyes that reminded him unpleasantly of Erwin. She looked surprised when Mikasa approached her. 

“Woah, I didn’t know she was courting someone!”

“Believe me when I say it’s the most opportune moment to watch her tear her dignity into pieces,” Armin remarked dryly. “You don’t want to see this, you’ll die cringing,”

“Right,” If Armin said so, then it had to be true. “What do we do then? Our bodyguard has abandoned us,”

“Oh, I know!” Armin clapped his hands enthusiastically. “How about I show –”

“ARMIIIIIN!!!!”

If the banshee-like screech wasn’t enough to warn him about the new mer he was about to meet, then her slamming into Armin with the force of a beluga whale definitely did. Armin didn’t even bat an eyelash when the mer tried to crack his spleen, his exasperated expression conveying an air of ‘this has happened too many times for me to give a fuck about’. The first thing that came to Eren’s mind when he saw the new mer was that her head was on fire. Then he had to remind himself that they were in the ocean and so, her head was definitely not on fire.

“WHOO! I just came back from watching the scroungers catch a fresh haul of fish and ARMIN, ARMIN, GUESS WHAT?!” the mer let go of Armin and performed a delighted twirl, her dark green tail glittering.

“MINA SAID THEY MIGHT ACCEPT ME INTO THE TEAM! WHOO!”

“Good for you,” Armin thumped her on the back. She squealed again and whirled around, coming to a stop with one hand on her temple when she acknowledged Eren’s presence. Her eyes – wait, they were so green – widened impossibly as they took in his tail.

“WOW! WHO GAVE YOU THAT TAIL?”

Eren shrugged. “Somebody had shed it on a rock so I stole it and wore it. Finders keepers,”

“It is so _pretty_!” she gushed and twisted around him at once, her hand glossing over his scales. Eren let her touch him without any hesitancy, almost liking the way she rubbed his fins.

She had to be a mermaid too.

The mer looked up, green eyes sparkling while her fiery red hair danced in the water. “Armin!” she turned to him, “Who’s this?”

“A new friend of mine. This is Isabel. Izzy, this is Eren. He’s a tropical mer, hence the bright colors,”

“Whoo! Hiya!” Isabel pulled him in for a headbutt, grinning widely. “Tropical mers? I’ve never met one before! Do you have colonies and villages like ours? Are you here to stay forever or are you visiting? Who are you visiting? Do you have a mate? Are you unclaimed? Are you? Why aren't you talking? Hey!”

Eren’s head spun. “What question should I answer first?”

Armin sighed. “Izzy, you’re gonna scare him if you talk like that,”

“What? I’m just asking where he’s from! Is that wrong? Are you offended? You’re not mad at me are you?”

“No, I –”

“Good. Do you have a mate?”

“No, I –”

“How do you know Armin? When did you two meet?”

“We kind of bumped into-“

“I like your tail!”

“Thank –”

“Why are you here?”

A bird that refused to shut her mouth and constantly chirped, Isabel trembled from head to fin and her tail just wouldn’t stay still as it swished and swung. Every time Eren uttered a syllable, she spewed out more questions that she didn’t let him answer. This mer had to be on a severe sugar rush. Eren turned to Armin, pleading for help.

“Izzy. Shut up,”

Isabel stopped at once and crossed her arms with an exaggerated huff. “Why don’t I ever get to talk to new people huh? Why do you have to butt in?”

“Because none of what you say makes sense. Think of how Eren feels – a poor tropical mer just visiting our colony only to get terrorized by the local rowdy mermaid who gets stung by jellyfish at least thrice a day,” Armin winked at him and got a punch in the elbow.

“I AM NOT ROWDY!”

“Hark who’s talking,”

“YOU JUST SAY THAT BECAUSE THE SCROUNGERS DIDN’T AGREE TO TAKE ME IN AND YOU LIKE SHOVING THAT IN MY FACE!”

“I say that because you _are_ rowdy,”

“WELL YOU DIDN’T GET TO BECOME A SCROUNGER EITHER! HA!”

Armin raised his brows. “I never wanted to be one,”

Before Isabel could shout back, Eren barged in with a “Hey, what am I supposed to do here? Levi put you on babysitting duty Armin!”

Isabel turned her attention to him at once. “You know big brother? You know Levi?!”

Eren gaped at her, hardly daring to believe that this hyperactive vibrator was another one of Levi’s siblings. “How many sisters does Levi have?!” he asked weakly.

“Oh no, she’s not related to him by blood,” Armin corrected. “I, Mikasa and Izzy were brought up by the same sitter. When Levi was taking care of Mikasa, he subconsciously adopted me and Izzy as well. She likes calling him her big brother,”

“Aw, I knew he was a softie,” Eren gushed fondly, head constructing a new scene involving a teenage Levi being tortured by three bubbly younglings that clung to his fins and refused to get off him.

“Oh, he’s a great big softie alright,” Isabel agreed warmly. “But what about you? You’re new here, aren’t you? Have you seen the village completely? Want a tour? I and Armin can you take around! Any friend of big brother is a friend of mine too!” as if to enunciate her point, she head-butted him again with a quick nuzzling of their noses.

Feeling his chest expand and an uncontrollable smile bloom over his face, Eren replied with a yes.

“GREAT!” Isabel grabbed him and Armin and squeezed them all together. “How about we start with my favorite thing about the merfolk, huh? I bet you’ve never seen the foragers in action before, huh?”

Eren looked over to Armin for confirmation. When he nodded with a smile, Eren let Isabel slip her arm into his. “The foragers it is then,”

* * *

His mum always told him that he was a wild and unruly pup. But if she had met Isabel, she would have had to reconsider her words.

Eren took great delight in racing Isabel across the boundless blue, whooping with unrestrained exuberance and feeling the rush of the aqua on his gills. He and Isabel weaved in and out of the passersby, their tails flicking and color specks glowing. Eren burst out from some corals, his fins shaking the seahorses gathered over there for a nap while Isabel whooshed out of a curtain of kelp. She could perfectly camouflage herself among weeds, Eren thought. The only thing that could give her away was her flaming red hair.

“Where are we going?” he shouted at her over the water.

“Just follow me!”

“Izzy! Eren! Slow down!” Armin whined from afar.

According to Armin, they were fast nearing the outskirts of Trost, just before the trail of cliffs that protected them from the vast ocean. The waters here were full of life, rushing past the mers in a torrent of colors. Eren identified all the types of fish that he knew: clownfish, cods, salmons, seadragons, and sardines. Blue, green, grey, orange, red and black surrounded him like a prismatic cloud before darting away in every direction. Curtains and bands of seaweed, purple algae, seagrass, kelp, and moss growing on rocks were pestered by the fishes and little seahorses. Here and there, Eren spied a few sponges and clams.

On some of the rocks grew colorful crystals like the very ones that lit Levi’s cave. They were mostly dull yellow or green. Around these crystals, an odd, spiky purple plant grew in small tendrils and called Eren out to them. Curious, he tried to touch them and found their texture surprisingly smooth and fuzzy than thorny. He ran his hands back and forth over them a few times, feeling the weird fuzziness under his palms whilst raking his brain to identify which plant this was.

“That’s a special type of plant; it’s called Vlosse,” Armin’s voice came from behind him as he caught up to Eren. “The juice has amazing nutritive and healing properties, so the sitters use them to heal severe injuries and treat sick mers,”

“Hanji had mashed it up for Levi,” Eren rubbed his forehead, remembering. She had spread it on some seaweed and he had wrapped it around Levi’s cuts. That had been… _yesterday_.

It felt like weeks.

“It’s also used as a substitute for milk when feeding pups,” Armin stated. “In case of orphaned pups or bastard pups. It’s a pretty efficient substitute,”

So _this_ was what Levi and Mikasa had been made to drink during their puphoods.

_The taste was disgusting. I had to rub my tongue over a rock for weeks to get it out._

“HEY! COME OVER HERE!”

Spotting Isabel and her red hair crouching behind a rock, Armin and Eren hurried to her side. She impatiently yanked them towards her when they were close enough and shoved them down. One hand placed on the patches of algae on the crag, Eren peeked out from behind his hiding place, wondering what the fuss was about.

One, two, seven, thirteen – Eren counted twenty mers, all concealed behind similarly broken ridges of rocks scattered over aqua. The talons that were placed atop the rocks seemed less sharper than Levi's but still deadly. The mers closest to the trio had their keen eyes trained on a bed of harlequin corals just to their right. Following their gaze, Eren found a large shoal of wahoos, their grey-white scales the palest objects in the vicinity.

Isabel tapped his shoulder. “Look over there,” she pointed.

Her finger showed a mer – the only mer who wasn’t hidden behind a rock. The mer stayed completely still without even a single fin twitching, the posture not unlike a predator about to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.

“See that mer? She will make the fish scatter in our direction. Once that happens, the other mers will rush towards them and clamp in on them in every way. For that, they have these huge nets made from seaweed; we got the idea from humans,”

“What happens then?”

“They bring the haul back to the village where the fish are killed. Then, they’re distributed equally among the mers once a week – they catch sufficient fish to meet the needs of every mer in the village, with the sitters being given extra because they have to heal the injured and feed the pups. Mermen with pregnant mates are also given excess because the mother needs to be properly fed during the time of her babies’ growth. And in case you want more, you can just go and catch some by yourself; there are no restrictions,”

“Neat,” Eren commented.

“I know,” Isabel gushed. “We eat weeds and other stuff too so that there’s not much disturbance in the amount of fish; the ocean has plenty, but you can’t kill them all. You need to let them grow or else you’ll upset the balance and cause a scarcity,”

“What other –”

“Hush! They’re gonna move!” Armin whisper-squeaked excitedly. They froze at once, barely breathing as they watched the scene play out.

Eren didn’t even have time to gasp; the waiting mer dived, faster than any bolt of lightning, straight into the heart of the shoal. The terrified group dispersed instantaneously in a flurry of grey and white. Like arrows fired from a bow, the other hidden mers emerged out of the hiding places in pairs, each pair gripping an interwoven network of kelp. They closed in on the wahoos, pinning the struggling creatures down while four of the foragers guarded the perimeter; any fish which attempted to make a frantic bid for freedom was immediately subjected to cruel talons and in a flash of scarlet, lay lifeless. The nets were tied up, and soon there were around ten such nets, each containing a mass of silver trying to flee.

“They… they are _so fast_ ,” Eren choked the words out.

“I know!” Isabel squealed. “They are so sharp, they can hear anything no matter how minuscule the sound! They’re super agile and not as buff as the troopers, but they’re just as deadly! I love these mers!”

“Izzy wants to be a forager,” Armin told him with a snicker. She turned to him furiously, flaming hair swirling. “Of course I do! They’re awesome! But they told me that I’m way too young and not properly trained to be one of them. As soon as I am of age, I can be with them!”

“Of age?” Eren repeated. “You mean, you haven’t matured yet?”

“No, I have matured. They just don’t take adolescent mers. They think we’re way too robust and can’t behave themselves and will always mess everything up,” she said grumpily.

“Huh… I wonder why they think that,” He predicted the punch Isabel threw at him but couldn’t dodge it in time and stumbled into Armin.

“There’s a friend of mine over there; come on, I’ll introduce ya!” she closed her hand around Eren’s wrist in a vice-like grip and tugged him towards the mers who were trying to control the captured prey, Armin following closely.

“Marco! Marco, over here!” Isabel called, waving her hand wildly. Eren shrunk back, worried that she might knock his head off.

At her cry, a mer with short, wavy black hair turned around. When Isabel let go of Eren to hurl towards him, his face broke out into a smile as he prepared to catch her in one of her tight hugs. 

“Marco! That was amazing! Did you see Mina? She was so fast, I barely saw her! Can I please, please, please join you now? I promise I won’t get in the way! I’ll behave and everything! I’ll be good, I swear! Please?” she jabbered with her tail tugging at Marco’s firmly.

Marco laughed. “Breathe Izzy. No, you’re still not allowed,”

“WHY?!”

“Because,” Marco pinched her cheeks. “You’ll drive out every fish out of the ocean,”

“NO, I WON’T!”

“Yes, you will. Now let me tend to these,” he let go of her, only to see Armin and Eren. “Well, if it isn’t everyone’s favorite coconut – hey there Armin! And who’s this?” he looked up and down at Eren, studying him from head to fin. “A new friend?”

“I’m Eren. That – you mers were brilliant. I’ve never seen foragers doing their thing,”

“Thanks,” Marco said, his cheeks flushed. Tons of freckles adorned his face, just like Isabel’s. Eren tried counting the freckles, but before he could complete ten, another mer called Marco and he turned away, leaving Eren to curse under his breath. The mers busied themselves with slitting the gills of the struggling wahoos, dropping them dead and immobile one by one with an expertly drawn slash.

Armin looked ready to throw up, which Eren found strange – they were merfolk, and they _ate_ fish. Surely Armin had eaten many fishes before and must have grown accustomed to it.

Still, Eren diverted him from the sight by asking where they ought to visit next.

“Well… oh! The sitters! You’ll love that place!” he took Eren’s hand, tugging it eagerly.

“Alright, we’ll go there,” Eren said, opening his mouth to call Isabel back to them.

A shrill shriek broke through the aqua, silencing the hubbub of the mers at once; they all turned as one, Eren’s fins blaring out in alarm.

Two huge stingrays flapped about, the mer who had dived earlier caught amidst them. With a grunt, she slashed at them with her claws which did little more than graze their skin. They twisted, exposing their pale undersides, clearly aggravated with the mer. She rolled to her side, narrowly missing the venomous spines. Eren’s blood chilled.

They were aiming to kill.

“MINA, DON’T CLAW THEM!” roared a mer with silver hair. The other mers swam forward to help, but couldn’t break through the barriers that the stingrays formed whilst circling Mina. The silver-haired mer picked up a nearby stone and flung it at the stingrays in a desperate distraction attempt. They screeched and flipped over, circling her closer. Mina flailed around wildly, her claws out; the stingray pulled back, its spine barred as it prepared to strike; Mina screamed –

Crimson drenched the blue, and Eren watched, stunned as the stingray gave a groan; it twisted around to see who had attacked it when there was a flash of claws and a blue streak; within seconds the stingray was dead, eyes blank as it sank down on the floor.

The second stingray whipped about, opening its crude, gaping hole of a mouth and a hand went up the roof of its mouth, severing it and popping out of the stingray’s top while blood erupted around it; the creature collapsed against its dead partner, blood steadily dripping out of it in rivulets and threading itself with the dark water. Mina panted, hair askew and eyes wide in panic as her savior checked the stingrays to ensure that they were indeed dead.

He didn’t have to. They moved no more.

Midnight blue tail swayed calmly as cool grey eyes regarded the creatures. Levi pulled a disgusted face at the blood caking his hands and he wiped it on one of the stingrays. Then he spoke to Mina.

“Did it get you?”

Mina shook her head, too numb to speak.

“Why did you attack them?” he demanded crossly. “Stingrays only go for the kill when they’re threatened. They don’t usually attack mers,”

“Y-yes Levi…”

When Levi lifted his head, all the mers simultaneously bowed theirs. He took them all in and gave a single grunt of dismissal. They went back to their work at once.

Not one to be held back, Isabel rushed to him and tackled him in her signature spine-crushing hug. Levi didn’t even stumble, evidently used to it. He embraced her in return, eyes carelessly raking the surroundings. Eren’s tail curled when Levi found him.

There was something in the way Levi looked at him – the way Levi surveyed Eren so intently that made shivers run down his back. Out of the corner of his eye, Eren knew Armin was staring at him. Levi’s study of him lasted for a while, lips slightly parted and head tilted. Paying little attention to Isabel’s ramble, he broke away from her and swam forward.

He couldn’t look away from Levi no matter what. Those eyes demanded his attention and Eren was unwilling to disobey. The closer he came, the hotter Eren’s neck grew. When Eren reached to maybe butt their heads together, he was stopped with a gentle caress of the cheek.

“Am I in trouble again?” he asked apprehensively.

Levi didn’t respond for a while, knuckles moving down to outline his lips. Then he bent forward, pushing the brown locks back and laid a gentle kiss on his earlobe.

“No,” he breathed directly into Eren’s ear.

Eren exhaled and felt the weight of the eyes of the numerous mers staring at them. “Is… is this the time?” his voice came out weak as two hands gripped his waist tightly and pulled him closer.

“Relax. It’s perfectly normal for mers,”

“It’s not normal for me,” Eren’s words were lost in a sharp intake of breath as a claw pressed against his clit with force; helpless to control it, he felt it open and slicken the fingers there which stroked his opening. Back and forth, the fingers went. Back and forth. Levi held him steady, hovering over him and sending glares at anyone stupid enough to question his actions.

Eren swallowed, choking down the moan that wanted to escape. He clenched his fest, breathing roughly until Levi finally stopped his assault with a satisfied sigh. Eren took more deep breaths to descend from his high.

“Armin,” Levi addressed the blonde who immediately straightened up. “Where’s Mikasa?”

The blonde hastened to reply. “She found Annie,”

 Levi sighed. “Good for her I guess,” he murmured, looking around. Eren noted the way every mer averted their eyes and tiny prickles of fear surged through. So _this_ was the Levi that the merfolks knew.

Eren shuddered as Levi’s hand traveled further up. “Levi?” 

“What?” he asked in that same annoyed voice. Eren felt like a small pup being scolded for misbehaving.

“I-I… where should I stay?” he asked.

Levi wouldn’t dare pull off a stunt like the last one; maybe Eren was supposed to live with Hanji? But she already had a mate and Eren did not want to intrude upon their privacy. Armin was out of the question as well. What about Mikasa? No wait, she was a merman; he couldn’t go there.

Eren wondered where the unclaimed mermaids lived. He looked up questioningly at Levi, waiting for an answer.

Levi didn’t speak for quite some time, pondering over the question. “Isabel won’t mind letting you stay with her,”

“Isabel?”

“She’s a mermaid; you can enter her cave,”

Eren nodded. “Yeah, I’ll do that,”

Levi’s claws tightened on his shoulder. “You will not wander away,” he dropped his voice lower than Eren knew was possible. “You are to stay with her. Understood?”

Mouth too dry to speak, Eren settled for another nod.

The steely glint still clouded his eyes. Pulling them in for a quick nudge, Levi’s tongue darted out to wet the tip of his nose. He withdrew and swam away to go talk to the silver-haired mer from earlier, who was giving out commands to the others.

“Eren,” Armin’s coconut scent invaded him and soft hands tapped his cheeks. “Eren, you’re shaking,” he said gently.

So he was. Eren took a deep breath and buried himself in his hands. What was wrong with him? This was Levi, the Commander of the troopers; of course he would be tough and intimidating. He didn’t have to be this scared of Levi… no, Levi was definitely nothing like _him._ This was Levi, not that brute.

_I could hand you over to the commander of the troopers, Eren… from what I’ve heard, he’s pretty terrifying and there’s not a doubt he’ll slaughter you at the first chance he gets. Or the King would pay a better price for you._

_I’m the only reason you’re still alive._

No, Levi wouldn’t kill him.

Or would he?

Wasn’t there _anything_ to guarantee his safety?

* * *

Eren returned that night to Isabel’s little cave in a state of dejection, curling up immediately at one corner and sulking. He didn’t respond to her when she asked if he was hungry and pushed away the neatly mashed and peeled fish she offered him, which made her snap.

“Alright, you dummy. What’s wrong? Are you upset about Levi?”

“What gave it away?”

His chin was pulled up the next second and he stared into her wide eyes. “You’re gonna eat,”

“I’m not hungry,”

 “I’ll make you hungry now. Eat it,”

“No,”

“I’ll call Mikasa,” she said venomously.

“Ok, I’ll eat,” he took the fish from her, put it into his mouth whole and swallowed it in one go.

His stomach growled menacingly and that was when Eren felt the full impact of how hungry he was. Isabel, smiling smugly, gave him more and he gratefully wolfed it all down.

Once full, he found himself less inclined to blow a fuse and felt pleasantly drowsy. Isabel curled up next to him, nuzzling her head against his chest and he absent-mindedly ran his fingers through the red bush, attempting to de-tangle it and tame it, a task which proved to be as successful as fucking seaweed.

“Isabel?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you claimed?”

“I… was,”

“Was?” Why did the tense sound so sinister?

Isabel sighed, burrowing her head into his neck. “My mate died at the shore because of these attacks. Levi told me they had found the body impaled on a rock,”

_No._

He saw crimson in front again. It was the same cycle all over again. The exact same fear, horror, guilt, and shame plagued him again and again. _No. No, no, no, no, NO!_

Eren wanted to scream and run out of the cave. Eren wanted to run all the way back to the shore and never set foot in here ever again.

_It’s your fault. You took another life, Eren. You killed him, didn’t you? It’s your fault._

Fingers combed her hair harder, seeking for a diversion. It didn’t work.

 “H-he’d laugh and mess up my hair… he loved my hair,” At Isabel’s little chuckle, a crack opened in his heart.

Isabel laughed harder and flashed Eren a toothy grin. “He always said I was an annoying brat,”

“What was he like?” Eren wanted to know.

“He was funny and a pervert… but a good pervert. We met when I was having my first heat and he almost ended up fucking me but stopped himself at the last moment. Then he and I constantly met after that. He would wrap his tail around me and cuddle me close to his chest or we’d play a game where I had to catch his tail which he would always keep moving around and make me so angry, I would bite his hand… He wanted to mate with me, and I had agreed; but that time, he was picked up for the scouting assignment to investigate the shore, so he put it off. He said he’d never leave me alone in the case I became pregnant and promised to do it once he came back. He promised that we both would be a happy family with pups who had more horrible hair than me and… and… he never returned from the shore. That never happened,”

More cracks appeared. The lump in his throat _burned._

Bur Isabel didn’t cry. She smiled, smiled as she played with Eren’s fins. And Eren couldn’t cry either. He couldn’t let her know.

“Izzy… where do all the unclaimed mermaids live?” Eren voiced instead. When they had their heat, when they wanted to escape from a forced bond – where did these mermaids go?

“They all live with their parents until they have their first heat. After that, some of them still live with their parents until they find a mate; more rebellious ones go to other villages or train to become hunters and sitters, helping the older mermaids with the pups; unclaimed mermaids stay with the sitters at their fortress. They usually help in schooling the pups until the dominant claims them. Then they get a new home but are still allowed to continue being sitters and hunters. There’s complete freedom to be whatever you want, but the exception is only in the case of troopers – only mermen can join them,”

“I see…”

Silence followed this for some time, as Eren digested the information he was learning every day; the mer world was actually beautiful, with a well-planned and thought-out systematic way of living. Almost every facility was taken care of, and the mers, being primitive folk, were perfectly satisfied with everything they had and it was wonderful how well they were interwoven with nature. They were so complex, yet simple.

But the merworld, like everything else, wasn’t perfect; there was a certain aspect of it which Eren still hadn’t grasped properly. Namely,

“Izzy… can I ask you a question?”

Isabel yawned but kept her eyes open. “Sure,”

“The merfolk… once they mate, they’re bound together for all of eternity and don’t mate with anybody else even if their significant other dies… so then, how… how are bastards born?”

“You aren’t bound to your mate forever by just mating with them, Eren,”

Eren was perplexed. “What do you mean?”

Isabel rolled over and settled on Eren’s tail, facing him. “When a merman smells a mermaid in heat, the pheromones given off are meant to attract them. If they like the scent, that means they are attracted to that mermaid and will do anything to make the mermaid theirs. By being gentle and affectionate enough, it works. The mermaids have certain criteria for accepting the merman courting them – strength, personality and how well they can take care of their mate. Most of the time, both mermaid and merman accept each other and consent is given so that the merman can claim his partner. Once you claim them, only then are you bound for eternity. But… not everything is this straightforward. Everything has a fault.”

Eren didn’t interrupt, listening rapidly.

“…Sometimes, the merman may not like the mermaid. That’s not much of a problem, because the mermaid will continue to woo other mermen until he or she finds the one mer who’s right. But the merman… well,” Isabel bit her lip. “They are a proud race. Being more dominant and stronger and more aggressive than us, they tend to be a bit… rowdy. If a merman fancies a mermaid, and the mermaid doesn’t accept them, then things go real bad quick. The merman goes into a rage, and they… they’ll try to show how strong and powerful they are… mating is the best way to show their dominance,”

No. Dread filled him at once. “You mean-“

“Rape. Mating without claiming the mermaid. Bastards are born that way,”

_Levi and Mikasa._

“That’s… that’s _barbaric,”_  

Isabel nodded grimly. “The punishment is exile. It is a strict rule; you can only mate if you have claimed the mermaid with their consent. And once claimed, you are not allowed to abuse or mistreat your mate in any way or form; thankfully, abuse is unheard of. But bastards are, sadly, extremely common.

That’s also the reason why it is forbidden to take an unclaimed mermaid alone into a merman’s cave. It’s not a problem if the mermaid has already got a partner or if the merman already has a partner. You can enter Jean’s cave with no issues because he has already chosen Armin. But you can’t enter Mikasa’s or Levi’s caves,”

“Levi and Mikasa… they both…”

“Yeah, I know.” Isabel agreed sadly. “But they’re my family. They, Armin, Hanji, Jean and Marco. And you too, Eren,”

“What?” Eren started

Had he heard her correctly?

“You’re family. _My_ family,” Isabel insisted fiercely. “Like it or not, you’re stuck with an annoying brat like me forever. Levi likes you. A lot. I saw that today; he has never behaved that way with anyone before… I won’t be surprised if he decides to claim you. If that happens, you’re family. You’ll always be family,”

“Family?” Eren questioned in a whisper.

“Yeah,”

She yawned again and squirmed until she had settled comfortably on his chest. Within seconds, Isabel’s soft snores punctuated the air as her warm body pressed against Eren’s.

Eren messed up her hair, crying. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Stingrays sound like empty ketchup bottles. SLURP SlURP *Farts* fLaP FLAP


	16. Objects and Shells

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mike comes across some human stuff and shows them to Levi. The danger rises.

“There’s plenty to go around; we caught a bigger haul than expected.”

Levi examined the nets full of silver; when they had been caught earlier, the fish were struggling to escape, squirming frantically and trying to bite off the edges of the seaweed net; now, every single one lay immobile, thanks to the quick and sharp slashes across their gills.

“Good,” Levi looked at the head of the hunting unit, a mermaid with close-cropped silver-blonde hair. She stared back into his eyes boldly and coolly. That was one of the things Levi liked and respected about Nanaba: she was one of the very few who saw Levi as an equal but was neither stupid nor proud and a capable leader. An excellent forager with sharp hunting skills and incredible agility.

“Any word from the Capital?” she asked now.

Levi shook his head. “I haven’t been there since the King told me to investigate the shore attacks; it’s quite silent lately.”

“Mike went out…”

“I assure you, I wasn’t the one who told him to go,” Levi said quickly.

Mike, Nanaba’s mate, had ventured out beyond the fifth ring of cliffs despite Levi’s strict orders to not let any merman go there alone. Levi had been talking to Hanji about Eren in his cave when he had found out, but couldn’t go himself to get the bastard back. Levi didn’t doubt Mike’s capabilities, whose strength stood second to Levi’s, but still had his guts twisted into a tight knot at the thought of him being out there alone. They couldn’t predict anything about the monster and its attacks. Levi hated the unknown.

“He came back,”

Levi started. “He did? I need to have a word with him. Where is he?” 

“Our cave. He was injured,” 

Thanking Nanaba and sparing one last glance at Eren who was being led by Isabel somewhere, he swam off to his destination.

The merfolk bowed their heads down as he went by, a sign of humility and respect; Levi didn’t say much but quietly acknowledged them. Along his way, Levi saw younger mers whoosh past him, their tiny little tails swishing hard and fins flapping as they swam around, their gleeful shouts eliciting a hastily suppressed smile. Only a few years ago, Mikasa, Isabel and Armin had been racing around the village, just learning how to best propel themselves and position their fins.

Mikasa was the fastest; she learned quickly and brilliantly. Armin was not the agile type but showed good progress. And Izzy… Levi shook his head with a soft chuckle. She was an absolute hurricane.

Teaching his brats to swim would be fun.

Levi started. _His_ brats? He hadn’t even claimed Eren yet and he was already thinking about pups?!

_Fuck, get a hold of yourself._

He would not claim Eren until the monster was taken care of, that much he had already decided. When everything was at peace at last and the shores were free to visit, he would take Eren out to see it. And during their return, Levi would take him along to the crystal cave and get his consent to claim him.

Mating came after. It would be when Eren had his heat.

Mermaid heats were grueling and harsh affairs. As the dominant kin, it would fall on Levi’s shoulders to care for Eren’s every need which would triple during his heats. Mating was a tough, demanding act and the mating period determined whether they were fit to be mates or not. The most strenuous test of mated life was the mermaid’s first mating heat.  

As a family of clownfish darted by, Levi followed their scuttling fins until his eyes landed on two courting mers partially concealed in the reeds. He flipped his gaze away, only to perform a double-check as he recognized the piebald tail that resembled an orca. Oh shit.

 _Nope,_ Levi’s mind said firmly as he steered away from his sister and the mermaid of her dreams. He definitely did not want to intrude on their privacy, but seeing her like this relieved him.

When a timid and verklempt Mikasa had approached him, revealing that she was one of the dominant mates, Levi had refused to believe it for days. But when she finally had a terrible breakdown and labeled herself as a freak, Levi stepped in, assuring that she was family no matter what and scaring off any mer who dared say otherwise.

It still bothered Mikasa. Mermaids hesitated to approach her and the younglings stayed well away from her, their fears amplified when Mikasa enlisted as a trooper. She was one of the very best though. Pride filled him every time he watched her fight and strike, her dark tail effortlessly dancing in the water.

When Mikasa revealed her desire to court a mermaid, Annie, it was Levi, Hanji, and Moblit who had taught her the best tricks to woo her chosen. And she had made a perfect choice as well – Annie, a surprisingly strong mermaid who preferred to stay as a lone mer than join in with the shenanigans of the other mermaids, was one of the very few mermaids who didn’t seem to be intimidated by Mikasa. She didn’t even talk much, which was unusual for a mermaid. Then again, it was unusual for a mermaid to live all alone at the shore.

Looking back at Eren, Armin, Isabel, Hanji and the others, Levi couldn’t help but admire how all the mermaids were such lively, bubbly and kind creatures in harsh comparison to the mermen, who were silent and awkward. Save for some like Marco and Moblit.

Not that Levi wanted the mermen to become all hyper and mushy-mushy; it felt good to have mers like Eren and Isabel come and shed some light upon them once in a while. Ultimately, courting mermaids was to obtain companionship – it was the gentle and soft hearts of the mermaids that helped tame the brutal instincts of a merman.

Courting was all about finding that one mer who could give you what you lacked and receive the same in return. Mating was about providing those gifts for eternity – a mermaid’s love and warmth in exchange for a merman’s care and protection.

And he would give Eren all the care and protection in the world.

* * *

“Mike. I thought I gave strict orders to not go anywhere near the shore,”

“I know,”

Mike, a burly merman and one of the best fighters under Levi, towered over almost every mer in the kingdom. Levi hated being next to him – he felt like a wee pup in contrast to Mike, who was a beluga whale.

Numerous gashes covered his enormous biceps and abdomen, all coated with a thick, murky green paste. Levi pulled a face at it – he loathed the essence of Vlosse.

“May I ask why you disobeyed my orders?”

“I heard a shout. Someone calling for help,”

“Where?”

“I was posted outside the entrance to the community yesterday. I smelled it before hearing the voice. The smell… it was a human, Levi. It definitely was,”

Levi exhaled. “A human,” He repeated.

This deep in the ocean. Right outside their village.

Mike nodded gruffly. “A human crying in pain. I didn’t understand what a human would be doing this close to the village and went to investigate. I found no body, but the ocean _reeked_ of spilled blood. In addition, I found these… things lying abandoned beside some weeds,” Mike took him to the corner of the cave as he said so, waiting for Levi’s opinion while he examined them.

The objects were unlike any other artifact he had come across, even the ones from the human world that Hanji had nicked from the shore once.

One was clear as a crystal with a strange rubbery outline in black. Levi sniffed it, trying to detect if it was something dangerous. But the smell surrounding it was off – it wasn’t like any natural smell that he had encountered before… rocks, weeds, fish, dolphins, mers, crystals – everything had its own unique scent. But this didn’t have any scent that Levi could recognize. It didn’t belong here.

“No use Levi, I didn’t get anything out of it either,” 

Levi stopped sniffing it. Mike’s abnormally powerful nose could detect a krill from miles away. If he couldn’t get anything out of the strange object, then Levi didn’t stand a chance.

The second object was something that looked suspiciously like a hand, but black. It didn’t feel like skin either, more like some kind of… he couldn’t find the words to describe it. What were these things? It had five fingers and was in the shape of a hand, but it felt slimy. Not right at all.

The final object was the most unusual and heaviest: a huge, fat, round, silver… stick.

Levi was lost by now. He knew humans were weird, but what fucking purpose could a silver stick serve? It wasn’t even thin like a stick; more like a log or a branch of a tree; one end had a small circular piece stuck on top bearing strange symbols inside it – Levi tried to touch it, but found his fingers being blocked by some sort of clear obstacle, some sort of invisible barrier. A long, black tail poked out of the top, as thin as a stingray’s tail. The texture felt slimy, just like the hands.

What the _fuck_ did humans do up there on land?!

“What else did you find Mike? The human?”

“I was too late; whatever had been the reason for the human’s scream had succeeded in silencing it. I scanned the territory to see if I could find the human, but I detected another scent Levi,” Mike scowled at him. “I didn’t recognize it at all,”

“ _What?_ ”

Mike couldn’t decipher a scent. That alone meant doom. This was bad. _Very_ bad.

“I didn’t recognize it,” Mike affirmed grimly. “But it was horrible – really foul and… vicious. Menacing. Whatever the creature that smell belonged to, it must have been the one to slay the human,”

The situation had escalated from zero to thousand – the creature had found its way to the village. It was here. It knew how to get here. If it had brought a human here before killing it, then that could only mean one thing:

A warning.

The troopers couldn’t wait now. They had to move immediately.

“Levi?”

“Strengthen the defenses,” Levi ordered. “No mer is to leave Trost and go out. If the situation gets worse, we’ll have to evacuate the mers to the next village closest to Trost,”

“That would be Shiganshina,”

“Alright then. I’ll gather the troopers and set out with them; Mike, you are not allowed on any more scoutings until you completely heal – that is an order,” Levi pressed sternly when Mike tried to argue.

“The reinforcements are supposed to arrive next week, but they’ll have to come sooner. We need to put this beast down before it comes any closer to the other villages. Mike, while I’m away, you’re in charge of the troopers here. Make sure all the mers stay close to the heart of the village, especially the young ones,”

Mike glared at him before settling for a nod. “What about these… things?”

Levi gazed at them, unsure of what to do when the answer sprung up to him. 

“I know a mermaid who’s an expert on humans,” he said.

Eren would be resting in Isabel’s cave right now. If anyone knew what these strange articles were and their uses, it was Eren. His stomach performed a backflip at the thought of seeing his mermaid again. Levi hoped Eren wouldn’t be too mad with him for being teased like that earlier.

“I’ll be on my way now,”

He turned to leave when Mike stopped him. “Levi, wait. I found this thing as well,”

“What?”

“This was near the weird objects,” he stated before handing over something shiny and blue to Levi. “I cleaned it. It’s pretty... I thought you would perhaps like to give it to that mermaid you’re courting? You are courting him, aren’t you?”

His stomach fluttered again: it was the blue seashell, the one with the strange ripples like his tail that had led him to Eren in the first place. Remembering the heavenly scent surrounding the shell that had taken him to the mermaid, Levi brought it to his nose, sniffing eagerly. His ears dropped. It didn’t have Eren’s scent.

“Why did you clean it?” he grumbled as he took the other human artifacts from Mike.

Mike raised his eyebrows in surprise as he handed over the heavy silver log.

“Because it was covered in blood,”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Levi and his silver stick. I've been laughing for the past hundred years.  
> Also, I haven't been eating because of writing this. Send help.


	17. The Bastard's Prize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Levi meets up with Eren in Isabel's cave

“Did you trouble him?”

Isabel stuck her tongue out. “I’m not that horrible,”

Levi ruffled her hair, amused. “Really? I seem to recall a certain someone not being allowed to be a hunter because she was being too rowdy,”

Isabel screamed and started punching him everywhere. To Levi, it felt like being slapped by a swarm of mildly upset goldfish. He casually pushed Isabel aside with a sweep of his arm and she looked dumbfounded. Levi couldn’t help but chuckle fondly at her stupefied face.

“How are you?”

“Huh?”

“Are you well?” Levi pursed his lips. He did not want to bring this up, but… if Isabel was suffering without telling him… “How are you coping with… after Farlan?”  

At his name, tears welled in her green eyes. Cursing, Levi pulled her into his arms and reached for her hair.

“… Eren and I talked last night about it. I miss him, Levi,” she sniffled. 

“I miss him too,”

It was the cruelest thing a mermaid could go through - losing their mate. Especially for a young and newly mated mer like Isabel. Another reason to fuck the shit out of the beast terrorizing them all - one way or another, Levi was determined to make it suffer and hear it scream.

“It’s ok now. Eren told me Farlan wouldn’t want me to mope about and cry like this… he said that I should stay like how Farlan loved me best. And that’s what I intend to do,” Isabel said determinedly, her voice stronger now.

“Exactly. Finally, someone managed to get those words through your thick skull,” he inwardly commended Eren for comforting her.

“I DO NOT have a thick skull,”

“Oh please, it’s thicker than my tail, which is impressive by the way,”

“SHUT UP!”

“Alright. Now, where’s Eren?”

“Are you going to claim him?” she asked, wagging her tail excitedly. How fast she could jump from one emotion to the other in seconds, Levi didn’t know. And he didn’t want to know.

“That does not concern you. So stop being a brat and tell me where he is,”

“Fine,” Isabel huffed. “He’s still asleep inside,”

“Right,” Levi gave her a pat and made to move. “Don’t you dare come in. I need to have a word with him, alone,”

“I promise.”

“Isabel,” his voice lowered dangerously. “I forbid you to come in,”

She nodded solemnly. “I swear I won’t.”

“Ok,” he ruffled her hair again and swam towards the inner chamber of the cave.

Almost every mer’s cave had two chambers, sometimes even three. The biggest was always the entrance hall, flanked by seaweeds or covered by jagged rocks. The inner chambers were always set on a higher level than the entrance hall to prevent rising water levels during high tides, so they always happened to be dry and water-less. Eren had told him that the caves on land were like this. The inner chambers were mostly for sleeping and intimacy between mers, like how Eren had put it: their ‘bedrooms’.

He emerged from the water without a single splash, dark tail coiled to avoid disturbing the silence. Levi sensed soft breathing, followed by the scent of fresh earth cheerily greeting him. Dragging himself forward on the solid stone, Levi crawled to the warm body curled up in the middle of Isabel’s kelp nest. The cave was too dark; he longed to have Eren back in his own, amidst the glowing crystals and his soft moss bed. Levi held himself up on his strong arms and claws, leaving a wet trail behind him. Once he reached Eren, he lowered himself on top, careful not to put too much weight on Eren. Putting his nose to the mermaid’s glands, he sniffed the wonderful fragrance and licked the small scales littered around tan shoulders, tasting fresh dew.

Feeling his arms tire, Levi sat up and pulled Eren with him, crawling back until he could rest against the cave wall and began to thoroughly bathe Eren in his scent. Eren let out a sleepy chirp and tried to slide down, but he was firmly held in place. Eren’s hair had dried into a fluffy tangle and Levi tried to tame his rich brown locks, prying them apart with his claws and massaging his scalp gently. His head was soft; so soft that Levi was terrified that he’d crush it if he wasn’t careful enough. Eren’s hair was long enough to reach his jawline, where it hung once Levi managed to unknot the tangles.  

Running his thumb over the parted lips, Levi leaned forward to lick them before fully pressing them together. Levi rubbed their chests whilst he reveled in the silent intimacy, soaking up as much of Eren as he could.

He meant to leave for the shore the next day, so why not spend a few moments with the mer he had decided to claim? To feel warm, tender flesh against his cool skin, the rise and fall of the golden chest as Eren breathed and the way he fit perfectly in Levi’s chest - a few moments of precious peace.

Levi felt something smooth and fine flicker and brush his eyelids. He opened his eyes to find bright teal pools staring back at him. Not interrupting the kiss, he butted their heads together.  

He felt Eren tense, hesitate and then loosen. Eren kissed him back, wriggling to extract his arms from their tight embrace. Levi straightened up a little to enable Eren to sit comfortably and find purchase for his hands on Levi’s shoulders.

“Did you sleep well?” Levi murmured.

“Yeah,”

“Good morning then,”

“How can you tell?”

“The waters are lighter,”

“Where did you go?” Eren shifted so that he could sit on Levi’s tail.

“To the troopers,” Levi helped him adjust, holding his waist the entire while and feeling the scales that merged with skin where the tail began. “Told them stuff. Went to Hanji. Talked about stuff. Looked for you. Found you. Killed some stuff,” he pulled Eren closer, not wanting to miss the warmth. “Then went to Mike. Talked about stuff again. He gave me stuff. Went back to my cave because I was tired. Slept. Woke up. Came here,”

“That’s a lot of stuff you did,”

“And I have a lot more stuff to do. Come here,”

Kissing him again, Levi tapped his shoulder to seek permission to touch. When Eren didn’t object, Levi delighted in feeling his hands trail over supple arms and back whilst Eren’s little claws found wisps of black hair to play with. Pale hands ghosted over the bright scales of color spread around Eren’s chest and his talons prodded each one, prompting Eren to shudder under the touch.

“Mmh,” Levi sighed. “You are responsive,” he spoke between their joined lips.

“Is that bad?”

“Not in the slightest,” Levi caught a lip between his teeth and bit into it harshly, Eren squeaking in surprise when Levi entered his mouth. He sought to explore it, to taste it and feel its warmth. But Eren’s tongue lapped his, blocking the path.

Two could play the game. Levi pushed him down to the cave floor and settled atop Eren, firmly pressing their mouths together to ensure Eren didn’t break away. Breathing sharply, Eren didn’t give up. Avoiding Levi’s tongue and dancing around it, Levi let out a frustrated growl as his sweet prize escaped from him yet again. Eren almost stopped breathing, pouring all his strength into shoving Levi’s tongue away.

Scars tickled over soft skin and it drove Levi mad: he wanted that skin to be marked, he wanted to _bite_ it and sink his claws in it. A feral growl left his throat in agreement as he fought harder for Eren’s mouth and Eren growled right back, the force behind it stunning Levi into silence. Using the opportunity, Eren tore away from him, rolling to his side with heavy pants and gasps.

Levi wheezed, spitting out the saliva whilst wiping the sweat from his forehead. He was a jumble of arousal and admiration – Eren had won and his eyes lit up fiercely, tail swinging back and forth to announce his victory.

“How was that, merman?” He challenged.

_Wild. Beautiful. I want to fuck you so hard._

Levi shook his head in a daze and crawled over to Eren. Pulling him up, he straddled Eren on his tail and butted their heads together again, nudging Eren’s face everywhere with his nose. He seemed to like this treatment, saying so with an approving chirp and mirrored Levi, nuzzling into his neck and rubbing their glands together.

 _Don’t stop. Please don’t stop,_ Levi’s chest rumbled. He leaned in to close the gap between them.

It was nothing much compared to the earlier one, but Levi wanted this kiss to be as gentle as it could. Just his lips on Eren’s, simply brushing it and slowly letting it wander all over Eren’s face. He dragged it everywhere, a chuckle coming from Eren when Levi kissed his nose before bringing them back to his favorite spot. Levi rocked them gently, thumbs rubbing circles into Eren’s lower back. Breaking away, Eren rested his head on Levi’s shoulder and hummed quietly. The cave was soon filled with his soft trills and Levi listened intently, ears swaying.

Eren touched the fins on Levi’s biceps and they shot out in all their serrated glory, startling the mermaid. He reached out a hesitant finger to touch it, looking at Levi for permission and Levi’s fondness for him expanded; here he was again, a dangerous predator and a sweet mermaid, with the latter asking the former if he could touch him. Levi nodded.

Eren explored Levi’s fins, tracing the soft blue scribbles etched on the midnight blue skin. He climbed Levi’s chest, peering behind to see his muscular back where a number of equally fierce and deadly fins ran down Levi’s spine. The soft underside of Eren’s stomach tickled him as the mermaid straightened. He took Levi’s palm to compare their sizes: the merman’s was huge and pale, with black claws jutting out, while the mermaid’s was smaller and daintily built, with tiny brown claws. Eren’s arms were muscled yet slender, devoid of fins and decorated with turquoise scales, whereas the merman’s were huge, with powerfully sculpted muscles and fins drawn back.

“What?”

Eren said nothing, attending to a particularly long gash on one of the fins. He traced it and asked, “How did you get this?”

“When I was a trooper in training, I was a small, skinny little twig and didn’t know much. The troopers were doubtful of me joining them… they thought I wouldn’t be able to survive. Then one of the troopers – his name was Kenny, he was a great deal older than me – taught me how to fight. He taught me everything I know now. He made me into what I am now. It was horrible and tough, being with him but…” he shrugged. “It was worth it,”

“Oh.”

“He died a few years ago… taken down by a savage squid. There was no better way for him to go… I found out later that… that he was actually my mother’s older brother,”

Eren squeezed his arm. “Isabel told me how bastards are born…”

“Huh,” Levi acknowledged.

“Your mother must have been really beautiful if a merman was mad enough to… you know,”

“They say I look exactly like her,”

“Really?” Eren piped and he turned to look at Levi, cupping his face. He studied him intently with unblinking doe eyes before saying, “Well I was right; she must have been really beautiful,”

He could do naught but smile at Eren’s brutal honesty. He always blurted out everything on his mind and it amused Levi to no end. He kissed the brunet again, nipping at his lower lip.

“Hey, Levi?”

“Hmm?”

“You told me that bastards never drink mermaid milk. But back in Hanji’s cave… remember when you almost fucked me because our tails were together or something? You did… you did drink some of mine,”

Levi groaned; of _course_ he remembered that. “I did not mean to do that _at_ all,”

“Never mind that,” Eren brushed it off. “Did you like it?”

“Like what?”

“Like it… did you like doing that?”

Though the cave was dark, the heat lining his cheeks were unmistakably clear and Levi raised his brows.

“You mean…” he trailed off, fighting with every inch of his being to turn away and not look at Eren. “Oh. You mean _that_ ,”

Eren barely nodded. His face was scarlet now, the tan complexion obscured completely.

 “Yes,” Levi replied. “I did like it,”

More blood rushed his cheeks, turning redder than Levi could believe was possible. His tail swished nervously. The fragrance of sweet lily was suddenly a thousand times sweeter.

“That was the first time you drank mermaid milk, right?”

“Mm. First time’s always the best,” he teased, hoping to divert the subject. He felt so… small. His brain was hyperaware of how Eren was pressed against him, their chests squished together –  

 “…Do… do you… wnnadoitgain?” the words tumbled out of his mouth in a hurry, jammed together.

“Sorry?”

Eren inhaled and turned to face Levi, face so red now that Levi expected to see steam rise from his ears.

“Do you want to do that again?” he said in one go.

It was Levi’s turn to heat up as the weight of his words hit him like a boulder; his neck began to boil.

“…E-Eren,”

“Yes or no?”

He looked at Eren’s determined face, jaws tight and chin set. Eren wasn’t going to budge, so why not?

Levi couldn’t help it. Before he could come back to his senses, he lowered his gaze to the two golden bulges, each having a soft, dark brown nipple. Unlike female mermaids, the males didn’t have that big breasts; but they nevertheless provided sufficient nutrition to their pups.

Eren’s breasts were covered by his scales, a threadwork of green, blue, turquoise and golden interweaving on his shoulders that continued till his hips.

Eren cocked his head to one side. “Well?” he demanded.

“Eren, I-I… I don’t think-“

“Yes or no?” Eren asked simply.

Levi gulped. No. Yes. He wanted this. He had always wanted this. And ever since getting a taste that day, Levi had wanted more. More.

Levi had never managed to wash out the taste of the Vlosse essence from his mouth, being forced to drink it until he was ten. He had tried to gargle sea water, eat tons of fish and after Hanji had tricked him, had even licked the slimy underside of a mollusk’s shell. He had almost killed her later; his tongue had hated him for years.

He had never been able to forget the taste of the very first time he had ever drunk milk – Eren’s. It had been like as though he was in a dream, a fantasy world where only he and that sweetness of Eren’s milk existed. His tongue had remembered it for days and he had unconsciously found himself longingly staring at Eren’s breasts, again and again, every time they were close. Why would he, a mere bastard, be given the opportunity to drink like that again? He ought to be thankful that he had at least managed to taste it once. Not many bastards could boast of that feat.

“Yes.”

Eren seemed surprised but nodded, somehow appearing intimidating whilst having flaming cheeks.

He was going to do this. He was actually going to do this. He was _being allowed_ to do this.

Hands trailing over slowly to his desired place, he rubbed it over and over, feeling the brown nipples stiffen under his touch. Hardly daring to breathe, he closed in and pressed his lips on Eren’s scent glands, taking his time and moving his tongue around, tasting his scales before slowly coming down without breaking the contact between the brunet’s skin and his lips. Looking up, he saw Eren give a small nod.

Kissing the area around it, Levi opened his mouth and took in the mermaid’s breast and sucked.

He was careful to not use any teeth. Claws were pulled back and hands gently gripped Eren’s sides. The sweet fluid flooded his mouth and he drowned in it, losing himself under the richness of the milk. He gulped it down with an insatiable thirst; the more he drank, the more he wanted. He sucked vigorously, for the merman had no memory of being fed like this, of being taken care of by soft and gentle hands like that of the mermaid feeding him.

He felt his head become clear and his previous night’s exhaustion slip away, replaced with a sense of high alert. His hearing increased tenfold and he could _hear_ Eren breathe; soft hands were running through his hair and a gasp echoed in his ears as he pulled back and bit the nipple harshly, sucking again. Claws forgotten, his hands kneaded the mermaid’s sides, massaging it back and forth, squeezing it and cherishing it, whilst the ocean’s nectar flowed into his blood.

_Oh, sweet nature… this precious mermaid will be the death of me..._

_Help me keep him safe._

_Help me keep him happy._

_Help me fulfill whatever his sweet heart desires._

He released Eren, licking off the last drop of milk and cleaning his breast before straightening up. Warmth swirled in his chest, pulsating like another heart. The sensation vanished in an instant and suddenly, everything felt right to him. Levi felt like the world had finally clicked into place.

He didn’t understand why he suddenly felt that way. It just felt right to him. It just felt to right to have drunk from Eren. It felt right to have Eren here with him. Everything felt right.

Eren had his nose buried in Levi’s hair. He was carefully controlling his breathing, but the claws perched on Levi’s shoulders dug into him and Levi could sense Eren’s discomfort. His body was burning, his scent excited and filled with desire. He had to calm him down.

“Eren, here.” Levi pried him off and made him sit down, gently massaging his stomach. “I didn’t mean to arouse you like that,”

Eren shuddered. “That… that felt g-good…I liked that. I thought you were angry with me yesterday,”

“I’m sorry about that. I have to uphold my image in front of the other mers and I couldn’t do that by behaving the same way I do around you,”  

“Oh yeah? You didn’t think much about that when you just went ahead and molested me,”

“I didn’t mean to molest you,” Levi sighed. He knew Eren wouldn’t be happy with his actions, but how was to supposed to explain that he had decided to take Eren for his own and wanted the other mers to stay well away from him?

“It was a precaution. Now the mermen will think I’ve got my eyes on you and keep their distance,”

Eren rolled his eyes. “Then maybe you should just claim me instead,” he suggested sarcastically, tilting his head to let Levi groom his neck. “Instead of dancing around like this,”

Levi tucked his hair aside to lick his glands again, a silent vow beating in rhythm to his heart.

_I will._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so let's get some important things covered up:  
> The merfolk frown down on bastards. Because bastards are born out of lust and desire and completely improper mating sequences. You do not forcefully take your partner like that. So, bastards are never given mermaid milk. Faults do exist among merfolk  
> Being able to drink milk is like some kind of grand honor. So, yeah. Levi is now madder for Eren than he ever was because, oh come on, who'd actually let you drink milk from their breast like that? It's another sign of how much Eren has grown to trust and accept Levi and that's why this breastfeeding was important, not just because I wanted to write some kinky hot stuff.  
> Eren was terrified of mermen, but here he is, feeding someone whom he believed would also try to control his life. It shows how much Eren cares about Levi and to what extent Levi has managed to eradicate that fear from Eren. They're helping each other.  
> Also, I know what you're thinking: Hey how can Eren lactate when he's not even pregnant? It's the problem he has with his body - the hormone distribution is completely uneven and sometimes hormones which are supposed to act during specific time act earlier or later. Poor baby.  
> Whoo. Time to sleep.


	18. Masks, Cylinders and Gloves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crash course on diving. Also, I was too lazy to think of a proper title

“This is a mask,”

“ _What the fuck._ ”

“Mask,” Eren repeated patiently. He sat on Levi’s tail, his back cushioned by the merman’s chest. Levi had his hands busy, mashing up fish and feeding it to Eren. Isabel complained, saying that it was unfair how Levi had never spoiled anyone like that before.

“I am a deity,” Levi had said in an annoyingly superior tone. “You are clearly blessed just by my mere presence. If I actually tried to feed plankton like you, I fear my superior powers and brilliance will most likely obliterate your soul. It’s for your own safety Isabel,”

“What the fuck is he talking about?”

“Ignore him, he’s a shallow piece of shit,” Eren responded.

The smug smirk on Levi’s face was wiped off in an instance.

“I love you Eren,” Mikasa sighed.

“Brilliant! I wooed your sister as well!” Eren turned to Levi smugly. “Feed me, peasant,”

Deciding to play too, Levi took the remnants of Eren’s breakfast and ate it himself.

“LEVI!”

Levi swallowed it, smirking again. Eren tried to hit him but was foiled when Levi grabbed both hands and forced them above his head. Curbing his squirms, Levi bent to press his nose to Eren’s cheek, tongue daring a lick of his nose.

Mikasa groaned. “Do that somewhere else!”

Levi let go of Eren, knuckles poking his red cheeks before raising his eyebrows at Mikasa. “I saw you kissing Annie the other day. You should consider yourself lucky I didn’t butt in, baby sister,”

Mikasa pushed her fish aside with a savage look in her eyes. “Don’t. You. Dare. Come. Between. Annie. And. Me.” She emphasized each and every word, leaning forward to show a mouthful of pointy teeth.

Levi felt too tired to start a fight – his head throbbed as punishment for not sleeping properly the night before. “Don’t worry. Scaring your blonde princess away requires effort and I’m too lazy to do that,”

Glaring, Mikasa sat back on the cave floor and crossed her arms over her chest.

Isabel slapped Mikasa’s bicep and pointed at her fish. Isabel was quite the mother hen, forcing whatever food she could get down every mer’s throat. Rolling her eyes, Mikasa went back to her breakfast.

“Hanji said that she’ll come and have breakfast with us,” she muttered.

“Well if she does,” Isabel fixed Levi with a threatening look. “I expect you to be on your best behavior. I don’t want another fish fight in my cave. Remember what you did last time, _big brother?_ ”

“If she behaves, I will. If she throws her fish at me, I will personally shove every fish in the ocean into her clit until she’s jammed,”

“Levi!” Eren cried, shocked. “You can’t do that!”

“Watch me,”

“Don’t you dare, merman!” Eren growled.

“Oh, I think I will dare, mermaid,” Levi growled right back, barring his canines.

“Ooh, someone’s in heat,”

“Shut up Mikasa,” they both snapped in unison.

All the mers returned to eating their share of fish in silence, Levi feeding both Eren and himself. Clearing his throat, Levi resumed their earlier discussion. “Mask?” he repeated.

Eren nodded. “Humans use them-“

But Levi didn’t get to know what exactly humans used them for as they were interrupted rudely by something that closely resembled what Eren had described to him as an atomic bomb blast; specifically a mermaid with unruly hickory and an orange tail.

“GOOD MORNING EVERY MER! Hi Isabel! Oh, aren’t you a cutie,” she gushed, pinching Isabel’s cheeks painfully and letting go with a slap. “Mikasa, why the long face? Wait, Levi was being a bitch as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary then. Levi! There you–” she stopped mid-way, mouth falling open at Eren, seated innocently on Levi’s tail and his sinister merman, glaring at her like as though she had personally offended each and every one of his ancestors. She gaped at him for what felt like hours.

“That is definitely not ordinary,” She finally blurted.

Eren smiled and chirped a ‘Good Morning’. It took a while for Hanji to adjust herself and when she finally flanked down beside Mikasa, she flashed Levi a leer and returned to her usual demeanor as soon as she saw the object clutched in Eren’s claws.

“What’s that?” she asked excitedly. Eren opened his mouth to explain but was interrupted again as another disturbance, this type in the form of a hyper blonde coconut, entered the cave.

“Armin!” Eren squealed and he rushed forward, stumbling into Armin and encasing him in a hug. The two mermaids butted their heads against each other, rubbing their noses together.

A vicious snarl built up in Levi’s throat. The beast inside hurled, demanding that his mermaid come back to him at once. He couldn’t control it and a low, malevolent growl came out. Eren and Armin split abruptly, Eren confused, Armin shaken.

If his instincts hadn’t been raging, he would have found the terror on Armin’s face comical, but he was more focused on getting Eren back near him again. The other mers had gone stiff, watching Levi apprehensively as his scent turned feral.

Levi prepared to growl again, but he stopped himself when he saw the look on Eren’s face; he immediately tried to calm his scent and turn it into something soothing. Opting for his normal one, the smell of salt in the sea, Levi gently crooned, indicating Eren to come back to his side.

Eren hesitated before making up his mind and floated to Levi, sitting down beside him once more. Isabel tugged on Armin’s hand and he curled up next to her, blue eyes large and round.

“So… er, what were you all talking about?” Hanji asked cheerily, trying to diffuse the icy atmosphere. Levi cursed; of all the times for him to lose control, why now? In front of Eren?

His head prickled.

“Oh, that,” Eren held up the clear object with the black outline around it, his scent faintly disturbed. “Levi found some human objects near the entrance to the community,”

“Mike did,” Levi corrected him. “I came here to ask him what he knew of these things,”

“This is a diving mask.” Eren shook the clear object. “Unlike merfolk, humans don’t have nictitating membranes–”

“ _What?_ ” chorused five confused voices.

“You know how we have that transparent eyelid that prevents water from entering our eyes? Those are called nictitating membranes,”

“Oh,” Armin remarked.

“Oh indeed,” Hanji agreed. “We’ve never paid much attention to it. Keeping water out of our eyes is an action that lies out of our domain of interest or control. It’s like blinking,”

“Well, humans don’t have that. So, when they go underwater, they use this to keep their eyes dry and protected. They wear it on their faces like this,” he stretched a weird slippery thing at the back of the mask and pulled it over his head.

The clear barrier that stood on his face made his eyes look larger and strangely distorted. It was like looking at him through a mist. Levi raised a claw and tried to touch it; it was sturdy and he tapped on it twice with a claw. The noise that responded was sharp and unassociated with the sounds that Levi was used to hearing. He flicked his ears in annoyance.

“Take it off,” Levi ordered and Eren obeyed. He raised his head, blinking once or twice as he laid the mask aside. An odd sense of relief wrapped Levi when the familiar green irises blinked back.

“So you’re saying that humans use this to protect their eyes from the water when they swim?”

“Yes,”

“But the village is situated at the deepest depths of the ocean,” Mikasa argued. “I may not know much, but I do know humans cannot breathe the same way mers do. Any human would have drowned if they had swum this deep,”

“Yeah. That’s why they use this,” Eren indicated the huge silver log.

“And what in nature’s shittiest shit is that supposed to be?”

Eren flinched at Levi’s harsh tone. “That is a cylinder. An oxygen cylinder to be specific,”

Snorting at the looks of puzzle and exasperation on the other mers’ faces, Eren explained, “Humans cannot swim this deep into the ocean. For one thing, the pressure would kill them.  On top of that, they need a lot of air to survive. And unlike us, they don’t have gills. So they use this.”

Isabel scoffed. “You’re saying that this thing gives them air to breathe? That’s ridiculous,”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. And believe me, there are things much ridiculous than this.”

“So… how does it work?” Levi picked up the cylinder. It was heavy and for the first time since he had acquired it, Levi noticed the presence of numerous scratches and dents on the surface, the marks unlike any mer or other creature he knew.

Whatever had done it was definitely not human. Humans did not have nails strong enough to rip the curious surface of this silver log.

“I’ll make this as simple as possible. You do not want to know the weird shit humans get up to. Humans take air and they put it inside this cylinder,”

Mikasa frowned. “ _Inside?_ ”

“This is a kind of… it’s a… well,” Eren gesticulated frantically, trying to make the others understand. When he failed, he let out a frustrated mewl and turned to Levi, gazing at him intently as though he could somehow make the merman understand by the sheer power of staring.

Levi sighed. “It’s alright. Tell us what you know,”

Eren took a deep breath. “Right. This… this is a… a vessel. Meaning, you can keep something inside this. You can store something inside this. Think of it as your stomach. But it is a very long stomach, and it is closed on one end. Ok, see, that’s more relatable. But instead of fish, humans trap air inside this thing. See this –” Eren pointed a finger at the weird tail-like structure jutting out of the top of the cylinder, “This is a tube. The air moves through this tube and it… it – wait a second,” his eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong?”

Eren didn’t reply, heavily frowning at the silver cylinder. “Levi,” he began slowly. “Are you sure Mike found only this over there? Nothing else?”

Levi shook his head but stopped at once; it hurt. “No. If he had, I see no reason for Mike to conceal them from me. This was all that he had found. Why, what’s wrong?”

Eren bit his lip. “This is not possible,”

“What?” Armin inquired.

Eren glowered at the cylinder for a while and Levi observed his face carefully. He could almost feel Eren’s brain working frantically. For a brief second, Levi could’ve sworn that he saw a flicker of fear shadow his face.

“Eren?”

Eren shook his head and turned around. Noting the questioning looks the other mers gave him, his features morphed into a more relaxing one as he gave a small smile. “Nothing… it’s just that…” he cleared his throat before addressing the others, “This cylinder supplies air to the nose. That’s how humans can survive when they go deep under.”

“So why did you ask Levi if that was all he had got?”

“…There’s a part that is missing. An important part. I was just wondering where it was,”

“…So,” Armin spoke up, “Humans can trap and contain air in this cylinder. And when they want to breathe, they can just suck in the air from this cylinder?”

“Exactly. Damn, you understand fast,” Eren remarked, to which the blonde mermaid flushed with pride.

“You said ‘oxy– something. What does that mean?”

“Oxygen. It’s a… thing…found in the air which enables humans to breathe,”

“Ok. Last object,” Levi announced and pulled the slimy hands towards him and dangled them in front of Eren’s nose. “Explanation, oh wise one?”

Eren puffed up his chest “The wise one says that these are gloves.”

“No offense, oh wise one, but what the fuck?”

“These are gloves, foolish child. They are like a second skin, designed to repel water so that humans don’t get wet. Humans wear them on their hands so as to keep them waterproof. They can’t let their skin stay in water for too long; it gets all wrinkly and disgusting,”

“Humans are shittier than a great big pile of the shittiest of shits.”

“Oh Levi, you should become a poet,”

“In the name of everything that is shitty, what the _fuck_ is a poet?”

“Someone with a vivid and beautiful vocabulary like yours,” Eren stuck his tongue out.

“Alright, I’m going,” Mikasa said to every mer in the cave at large and prepared to leave.

“Where?” Armin called after her.

“Anywhere away from here. I can’t bear to see my brother and his mate flirting like this. I’ll get sick,”

“I’ll come with you,” Isabel said and she followed Mikasa out of the cave. After waving a goodbye to Eren, Armin too swam after them, whining at them to slow down and wait for him, leaving Levi, Eren, and Hanji alone in the cave.

“So, should I get going?” Hanji raised her eyebrows, smirking slightly.

“Under normal conditions, I would have flung you out myself,”

“But?”

Levi grimaced. “There’s something wrong here. Something I don’t understand,”

Eren and Hanji both exchanged curious glances, expectantly waiting for his say.

“Humans can’t get down this deep into the ocean,”

“Thank nature for that. Imagine the horror if they managed to get down here,” Hanji shuddered.

“That’s what I find disturbing,” Levi frowned. “A human _did_ manage to get down here, which is impossible.”

Eren rounded on him. “You don’t know humans the way I do. If you say something’s impossible, then they’ll do anything to prove the opposite. They’ll make nature itself bend down to them.”

“It’s not that. Eren, the mer communities are situated at _the_ bottom of the ocean. No amount of human tricks can get them down here. As you go deep and deeper into the currents, you’ll be hampered by the vegetation _and_ the aquatic life. The sharks could tear you apart and the jellyfish will boil your head–”

“Brains. They’ll boil your brains out,” Eren corrected.

“And if that isn’t enough, all the mer communities are guarded by the vilest and sharpest rocks you can imagine,” Levi continued. “The closer you come to a community, the more cliffs you encounter. Some are torn, some are whole, tall, short, jagged, serrated, ghettos and caves – they all stand in your way. Without tails or claws and the ability to see clearly even in the dark, you have no hopes of surviving. And the entrance is hidden by more of those dangerous cliffs and seaweed. In fact,” Levi pressed on, “You can’t even make out that there is actually an entrance to something if your senses are limited to the piss poor ones possessed by humans.”

“So Levi…” Hanji said, “What are you trying to say?”

Levi thrust the cylinder at them. Hanji grunted as she rolled it over and both mermaids examined the marks embedded on the glinting surface. Eren traced a particularly long gash with the tip of his claw, his brows furrowed.

“These marks… you said Mike found the objects near the entrance,” Hanji muttered. “Under what circumstances?”

“He heard a scream and swam out to see if someone was in trouble. He managed to register the scent of a human along with another shitty scent, but when he arrived on the scene, there was nothing, except for these things,”

“I’ve never seen these marks before… at least, never seen any mer leave marks like _this_ before…”

“What do you mean?” Eren asked quickly.

Hanji looked at him seriously. “Every creature in the ocean is unique. Each creature has its own way of leaving its mark. I can recognize whether it is a merman, mermaid, otter, or something else just by seeing what type of marks it leaves on a surface. Every species has a distinct pattern and distinctly shaped claws. But this… this is not a creature that I have ever encountered nor do I know of. And I don’t like not knowing things,” she said bitterly.

“Eren, you said that the mask earlier was missing a certain part…”

“A part called the snorkel,” Eren confirmed. “There are two types of diving masks. That is one,” he indicated the mask next to Levi, “and the other one is a full face diving mask.”

“What’s the difference?”

“As the name suggests, it covers your entire face. Those diving masks have an attached snorkel which is connected to the tube of the oxygen cylinder. It serves to transport oxygen to the mouth. In masks like this one, you need an additional part called the snorkel which connects the tube of the cylinder to your face. Without it, the cylinder is useless. You cannot breathe. So like you said Levi,” Eren looked grim. “There’s no way a human could have come this deep without external help,”

“Then that means…”

Levi felt sick. “The human was attacked near the surface and dragged down here,”

A moment of silence followed his words. Hanji's tail, the orange shade of sunset, swished around agitatedly. Eren’s scent had turned sour and Levi recoiled as it the sharp stench hit his nose. He clicked his tongue to get Eren’s attention and nudged him with his elbow, covering him with his scent.

“There’s more… Mike said that there was blood everywhere too.”

Hanji’s ears perked up. “Blood?”

Levi nodded gravely. “He said it was fresh. That confirms it. A human was forcibly brought down here. There’s no other way for a human to come this close to a mer community,”

“Levi, what are you going to do?”

“I have already alerted the troopers. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s a threat. That slimy shithead of a monster is threatening us,”

“But why? Is it because no more mers are allowed to go out to the shore anymore and it’s feeling hungry?”

“Hungry? No, the fucktard is more likely to be pissed because it does not have anymore mers to add to its grotesque collection. Maybe it’s lonely and needs company,” Levi sneered.

“No,” Eren said suddenly.

Hanji and Levi glanced at him. “What?”

“No,” Eren repeated firmly and he looked at Hanji. “I’m sorry, but can I please talk to Levi alone, Hanji? Please?”

She nodded and leaned close to ruffle Eren’s hair; Levi growled again, prompting Hanji to snicker.

“I won’t steal him, your grumpiness. Don’t worry, he’s all yours,” she told him and winked before exiting the cave.

They were alone again. His head pounded and Levi cringed, his discomfort amplified by the sour scent Eren gave off. Levi lulled Eren closer, hoping that it might help wash away the distress in Eren’s scent, but it was to no avail. Eren hid his face and to Levi’s astonishment, a muffled sob escaped his lips.

What was Eren crying about?

“Eren. Talk to me,” He pressed his lips to the mermaid’s ears, gently nipping at it and rubbing his nose in the brown locks.

Was he disturbed by the idea of a human being attacked and brought here by force? Eren had a surprisingly great deal of knowledge about the humans – too much in fact; Levi frowned. How did he know all this? Had he… had a human friend whilst his time at the shore? Was that why he was crying now? Because he was friends with a human and fond of their kind?

Levi himself didn’t feel particularly sad or sorry but was disgusted by the sadistic gesture all the same. However, he knew the mermaids had much gentler and softer hearts than their aggressive dominants and didn’t berate Eren for it. Maybe Eren deserved to cry for once, after all those years of solitude and Levi was just glad that he was there for him. 

It still fascinated Levi. The same mermen who were usually solemn, harsh, hostile and proud would show a completely different face when dealing with the sweet little mermaids, bowing down to their whims and wishes. Mates meant everything to the mermen, even more so than their pups. The mermen would have gone insane if it weren’t for their gentle counterparts to love them and light up the darkness that was their loneliness.

“I… I’ve been thinking… you said you’ve been to the monster’s cave…” Eren gulped. “Can you describe it to me?”

“Do you want to know? I don’t want to bring your breakfast back up,”

“What goes in my tummy stays in my tummy. No returns,” Eren said in a ridiculously serious voice and Levi chuckled, making Eren fight back a smile.

“Ok then, oh tough-bellied one,” Levi prodded Eren’s stomach with a knuckle making him squeal. “It was horrible. Loads of mers and humans too, by the looks of it, had been torn open and just left there to rot. Some were missing their lower halves, some had their guts on display, some didn’t have their heads – it was like looking at them inside out.”

Eren tried to make himself smaller by curling his tail around him. He fidgeted against Levi. The distress in his scent went up and Levi heightened his own scent to overwhelm the mermaid’s. Eren shook and cried silently for a while, hidden under his tail.

“That’s digusting,”

“Mmm, no kidding,” He licked Eren’s cheek again and tasted the saltiness of his tears. Eren gave a protesting whine as Levi proceeded to groom his face, but subsided eventually, letting him do what he wanted without complaints.

The torment in his scent didn’t waver, however. What was wrong? Why was Eren so unhappy?

Levi uncoiled his tail and let it coil around Eren instead, pulling him closer. He rubbed their glands together, caking his scent over Eren. Mers found it soothing when their mates coated them in their scent. It even helped with Levi's headache.

But Eren silently sat through the treatment, his sour scent worsening. Peering up with moist eyes and tears spilling out, he looked conflicted.   

“Levi, I… I have something to say.” Eren fiddled with his thumbs nervously, not daring to meet Levi’s gaze. “It’s stupid, but the monster… it… you told me its lair was full of all those bodies right? If it was killing to eat, then it wouldn’t leave so many bodies out in the open like that right?”

Levi nodded slowly. “They would rot. Eating is not its intention,”

“And Hanji… Hanji said that she couldn’t recognize the marks on the oxygen cylinder and Mike said it smelled really nasty, so I… I was thinking,” he took a deep breath.

“What if… Levi, what if it’s a … a _siren_?”

“A siren?”

“Yeah… Armin did say sirens were a major threat to mers… so…”

It was a decent guess. Sirens and mers had long parted ways, the creatures as amicable as penguins and leopard seals. The sirens were brutish and ruthless, luring in humans and mers alike for feasting on them. They didn’t leave in ordered colonies. Levi didn’t know anything about them, apart from the fact that they did not engage in socializing and communal behavior.

“Maybe…”

“So…” Eren’s voice took a hopeful turn. “What will you do about it?”

His question triggered an unpleasant topic to Levi. He sighed, realizing that he had to tell Eren. “I have to report this to the troopers,” he began. “And hunt this beast down. I’m leaving tomorrow for the capital,”

“What?!” Eren shrieked and was suddenly upon Levi, eyes blown wide. “You’re _leaving_?! Levi, you can’t!”

“I have to Eren,” Levi had known this would be difficult. “As the commander of the troopers, it is my responsibility to lead the hunt,”

“But Levi, you brought me here!” Eren cried shrilly and Levi recoiled; his scent changed drastically, going from sorrow to undiluted panic. “You were the one who brought me here, you can’t abandon me! Please, Levi, you can’t!”

“I’m not abandoning you. I’m just going away for a few days. There’s a difference. I’ll be back in like, two or three days. You can stay here in Isabel’s cave for the time being, with Armin, Mikasa, and Hanji for company,” Levi explained patiently, taking Eren’s hand in his own to reassure him. Eren pulled it away at once.

“Levi, you don’t understand! The only reason… t-the only reason I’m still in one piece right now is because _you_ are here! The moment you go away, I’ll… they’ll…” Eren hiccupped, desperately trying to speak but with the terrible onslaught of tears that founded their way into his mouth, he blubbered instead. “They’ll kill – no, Levi you can’t leave me alone here! Levi please no! Please, please! Levi, I beg you, don’t go!”

Levi used the back of his hand to wipe away his tears, unsure of what else to do. “I promise nothing will happen to you. You’ll be perfectly safe here, trust me,”

“I won’t! Levi, you don’t understand, you don’t know anything!” He grabbed hold of Levi’s shoulders, digging his claws in painfully. “The merfolk… they’ll kill me!”

“And why will they do that?” Levi demanded, his head pounding harder. Fuck, he wanted to leave this place and dive into the water. His gills felt so scratchy.

“Because… I DON’T KNOW!” Eren’s screech hit him hard, escalating the mad pounding. “But please! LEVI, PLEASE! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!” He clung to Levi, tail wrapping around his stomach and biting into his spine. Soft stomach… so soft skin… _bite…_

_Not now!_

Fuck, he was having one of his fits again.

He had to get away from Eren. He had to get away or else he’d hurt him! He’d hurt Eren – but Eren clutched him like a terrified octopus, his shrieks and wails only further fueling his stupid headache. Levi grit his teeth, commanding his head to form words.

“I can’t risk the community Eren, and I can’t send someone else. It is my duty both as a merman and a commander to lead. This is no laughing matter. There are lives here at stake!”

“YOU BROUGHT ME HERE!” Eren cried in hysteria, shaking him by the shoulders. Shoulders. Warm shoulders. Smooth shoulders. _Bite, bite, bite!_

Levi growled and pressed his teeth together harder, feeling blood seep into his mouth when they punctured his gums. _Not now! Not here!_ He would _not_ lose control of his instincts and claim Eren like this.

“Levi! Please, don’t go!” Eren had stopped crying now but the tear stains remained. He grabbed Levi’s face. “You can’t leave. Please don’t leave! I can’t here alone!”

“No one will lay a finger on you,” Levi heard himself say sluggishly, his voice distorted. “I’ll make sure of that. You have my word Eren. Trust me,”

_Bite. Bite you fool! Claim him! CLAIM HIM!_

_SHUT UP!_

Eren shook his head. “Remember when I told you my body is not normal? It does unexpected things?”

Had Eren told him something like that? Levi’s head ached more so he gave up trying to remember. “Mm,” he mumbled, shoving his nose into Eren’s neck. The scent, the scent – sweet lily… sweet lily… he had to sniff, he had to control…

“Yeah… well, I go into heat twice a month. I’m not normal Levi. I had a heat at the beginning of this month when you found me. What happens if I go into another one when you’re not around?! Levi, you can’t leave!”

“I have to!”

What was wrong with Eren?! Why was he so terrified?! He would have Mikasa and the others for company – why was he so afraid of being left alone?! What was going on?!

“Or better still, Levi, please let me go back to the shore at least!”

“Absolutely NOT!”

Eren shook his head in despair, tears streaming again. “Levi, do this at least! Let me go back to the shore! I’ll be safer there! Let me go!”

“There is a barbarian prowling around over there, slaughtering mermen and you expect me to let you, a _mermaid, go to the shore undefended?_ ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?”

“MAYBE I AM! IF YOU WON'T LET ME GO TO THE SHORE LEVI, I SWEAR I WILL LEAVE THIS VILLAGE AND GO THERE MYSELF! I’LL LEAVE!”

“DON’T YOU DARE!”

His head burst and his instincts overflowed. Levi growled horribly, tackling Eren and forcing him on the cave floor where Eren growled right back.

_YES! YES! BITE! CLAIM!_

“You will _not_ leave this village until I come back. Understood?” he bucked his hips, mouth scraping over Eren’s glands. One bite… one bite, just _one_ bite and Eren would all be his….

“I’ll do whatever I want! Let go of me!” Eren struggled to overthrow the merman off him, but Levi was in no mood to be gentle this time. He snarled ferociously, claws firmly holding the wrestling mermaid in place. Eren tried to hit Levi with his tail but Levi beat him, his heavier muscular tail slamming Eren’s delicate one down. Eren broke free of Levi’s hands and slashed at him. His claws tore the skin and Levi grunted in pain: Eren had hit his glands.

With a feral growl, Levi turned the brunet over and forced his head down, exposing the back of his neck.

“LEVI!”

Some sense crawled back into his mind for Levi stopped himself right before he could strike with his teeth. “Stay here…” he rasped, claws digging into soft flesh. “Stay here… no going out. You won’t disobey me… you _will stay here_ ,”

Eren struggled frantically, whining and crying out. Levi pulled him up and forced his head backward, giving him the perfect position to sink his teeth into Eren’s neck. “ _Stop,_ ” he ordered, his dominating scent tainting the air and mobilizing the thrashing mermaid.

Eren finally gave in to the command with pants and sobs. Fighting the battering of his head with all he had, Levi shoved Eren away and pressed his temple to the cool cave floor.  _So fucking good._  

His gills needed water. He was heating up. He felt too heavy.

Levi looked up, searching for what had become of Eren. Guilt cascaded down on him at the sight of the rapidly darkening bruises on Eren's arms and waist - his doing. Rubbing his hands over the wounds, Eren scooted away from him to settle at a corner of the cave, sobbing softly whilst he licked the wounds.

Oh no. Fuck no.

"Eren," Levi had never felt this horrible before. Cursing and severely scolding himself for failing to suppress his instincts, Levi crawled forward. Eren hissed at him angrily, his tail thrashing in warning. 

“Please, let me help you,” Levi moved again, and Eren retreated further away from him until his back was against the cave wall.

“Get away from me!”

“I won’t hurt you -" 

“GO AWAY LEVI!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Octopi and squids have more than one heart.


	19. Dreams and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Title says it all.  
> Note: The first few paragraphs are in Levi's POV, but the rest is all Eren.

“So he thinks it’s a siren?”

Levi nodded as he absent-mindedly examined his fins to distract himself from the guilt weighing down on him. Eren’s fury was hard to forget.

He had told Hanji everything that had happened after she had left and while she was fascinated with Eren’s theory, she was displeased with the way he had treated Eren. She had reprimanded him for being so harsh and losing his cool, knowing full well how strong Levi was and his habit to get carried away and let his instincts get the best of him. Shame was clawing at his chest, digging a hole there to occupy.

While he knew his fits did tend to be rough, he had never lost control of his instincts before, let alone actually attack someone. Levi closed his fingers into a fist, remembering the bruises he had left.

“What do you think?” Hanji distracted him and he welcomed it gratefully. "He could be right… I’ve never seen a siren before, so it would explain why I couldn’t recognize the scratch marks,” 

"Even if it  _is_ a siren, how can we defeat it? We know nothing about it!"

"Wel... I do know some stuff," Hanji admitted. "Like the fact that sirens are nocturnal creatures and don't like waddling out in the sun that much. Maybe it's one of their weaknesses?" In response to Levi's questioning look, she said, "Sunlight. Daylight. Maybe they are not as strong during the day..."

Levi thought. Hanji was brilliant, he had always known that. Most of her guesses always turned out to be on point and true. Her shrewd observations and logic had helped him and the village on countless occasions. So could she be right about this too? A siren being weaker during the day than during the night...

That would mean he had to strike during the day. They would have to reach the shore by dawn and then lure the bastard out to kill it. 

The shore...

_Eren wanted to return to the shore._

_Eren didn't want to stay here anymore._

_Eren was hurt. He had hurt Eren._

“Levi, are you alright?”

“Do you think Eren hates me?”

“That was not a… a very nice thing to do Levi. But the bruises might have faded off by now,” she reassured him. “He might even be willing to forgive you, Levi. You just have to and apologize to him,”

“What if he doesn’t accept it? What if he thinks I’m just another big piece of shit who likes to torment him and pick on him? What if he thinks I’m the same as Erwin?”

“Whoa there,” Hanji grabbed his shoulders and shook him roughly. “I don’t think Eren will hate you just because you scratched him once,”

“It wasn’t a scratch,” Levi said quietly.

“Ok, but you’ve been good to him many times before! You didn’t just pin him down and fuck him raw Levi, you waited for his approval before you made any move! And you drank his milk!” Hanji said that with awe. Her mouth had opened so wide upon recounting the tale that it had almost hit the sea bed. “Forgive me, but that is like, the ultimate form of trust that a mermaid could show! Come on Levi, he doesn’t hate you!”

When Levi continued to look depressed, Hanji hit his bicep. “Stop moping around Levi! If it makes you feel that horrible, why don’t you go confront him now? You’re leaving today, aren’t you? So maybe a goodbye kiss might cheer both of you up! Go see him and say that it’s because you need good luck or something! After all, who knows if you’ll ever come back?” She elbowed him slyly and then screamed as Levi slapped her with his tail.

* * *

_Blood flooded the floor. Blood flooded his mouth. Blood ran down his chest. Blood poured out of the other’s stomach. Blood stained the third. The others had their gazes locked on them, their glassy eyeballs having stopped seeing long ago, yet the reproach remained._

_“Am I bad for not crying? Am I disgusting for not feeling sorry? Am I a freak for wanting to run away and hide?”_

_No Eren, but you are bad for not listening to me._  
  
Look around you Eren. See what you have done. Look at all the mers you’ve killed. Look at their blank faces, look at those lightless eyes… look at the lives you’ve taken.

_“I didn’t take those lives,”_

_But you did. It’s all your fault. It’s your fault that they no longer breathe.  
  
Would this have happened Eren, if you had listened to me? If you had done exactly as how I had asked? If it weren’t for your stupid pride and stupider reason to stay ‘free’…  
  
Being free is a mere memory, Eren. As long as I live, you will never be free.   
  
And neither will you belong. An abomination like you does not belong anywhere.  
  
I’m actually doing a favor you know? By keeping you here. By letting you walk around so easily. Consider it your privilege. If the mers find out about you, Eren, they won’t hesitate to have you skinned alive. You’ll be gutted faster than you could blink. And _ he _’ll do it. Levi will be the one to take your life._

_Amused eyes locked onto his tearing ones, lips curved cruelly. His chin was yanked upwards as he looked back into his nightmare._

_I’m keeping you safe from them and the King. Consider it a late-gift to your stupid mother who died saving a violation of nature like you. If she had any sense, she would have drowned you. It would have actually been merciful._

The claws constricted around his throat, making it impossible to shout or cry. Another tentacle grabbed him and he was being squeezed between something massive. It was so cold, freezing cold and he struggled against his hold, knowing that if he didn’t fight, his mother would have died for nothing. He kicked and kicked the water around him and with sudden terror realized there _wasn’t_ any water. His chest was being crushed and he couldn’t breathe; his lungs were going to explode if he didn’t get water soon and a guttural cry escaped, crying out for safety that he couldn’t get. His arms were heavy, _so very_ heavy and sank again as darkness suffocated him.

“ _Mum!_ ”

_You need to live, love._

Eren jerked awake with a scream. Someone was holding him, and he tried using his claws to scratch the intruder but his hands were numb and refusing to obey him. Mind foggy with panic and fatigue, he let out another strangled cry and suddenly, a blast of heat enveloped him. Warm, toasty heat that he had never felt in his life was covering him and heating his frozen body. With a pleasant jolt, the scent of thunderstorm and saltiness hit his nose and he stopped fighting, clinging onto whatever he was lying against.

He gulped and inhaled the scent heavily. The salty breeze flowing through the shore was beautiful… it was heavenly and the warmth around him was even more so. Coarse grains of the familiar sand tickled his stomach and sides and he rubbed himself against it, enjoying the scratchy feeling of the tiny particles. This was his home.

“Wake up,” a soft voice told him.

He knew that voice. How couldn’t he? Opening his eyes, he met a raging storm, a swirling whirlpool of silver and indigo. Hair as black as a raven’s wings tickled his cheeks. He was pressed on the sand of the shore and a merman was looking down at him, with a crooked smile.

“What was that tantrum all about?”

“Levi…” Eren reached out his hand to feel him. The merman leaned into his touch, closing his eyes and it was then Eren came to know that their tails were still submerged in the water. He tried to sit but Levi pushed him further into the sand and settled on top of him, his milky chest dripping wet. Eren watched in fascination as two beads of water raced down against his sculpted muscles. He placed a palm over them, tracing the outline of his abs before he was pulled upwards and made to sit on Levi’s tail.

The breeze fluttered lazily, messing up Levi’s hair perfectly. The golden sand stretched out for miles away and Eren had never seen the bushes and palm trees behind them look this green and healthy. The sky was blue, bluer than he had ever seen and the fluffy clouds floating above looked like marshmallows. Eren wondered what it’d be to be over there at the top and look down at everything from below. The ocean sparkled at him.

“Why… why are we here?”

He was back. Back at the place where he was brought up, lived and was terrorized for half of his life. A foreign sense of security swept over him as Levi snaked his arms over Eren’s waist and drew him closer. Lips were on his neck again as they began leaving kisses and affectionately nipping away at his skin.

“The shore,” Levi said with a sigh as he continued to trace more kisses along his shoulders, “Is the safest for you, actually. I had to get you here. I couldn’t leave you there anymore,”

“But when did we get here?”

“You were asleep,”

Eren arched an eyebrow. “You abducted me?”

Levi shrugged. “Maybe.”

He turned Eren around so that they were both facing each other. Liquid silver looked back into teal pools and there was a tenderness in his eyes that Eren had never seen before as he was pulled closer.

“This still isn’t right… why would you bring me back? You were so against it yesterday,”

“Yes I know,” Levi murmured. “But I can’t leave you there alone. For a beautiful mermaid like you who’s unclaimed… that’d be suicide,”

_Beautiful?_

“I thought you were going to leave for the capital today?”

“I am. I needed to comfortably settle you down here first,”

Eren leaned into his merman. He could never be able to explain the way his heart sped up furiously at even the simplest of touches Levi gave him – how a huge lump rose in his throat whenever Levi held him or smiled at him – how he felt like his entire body seemed to evaporate when Levi kissed him – how intoxicating his scent was and how he wanted to wake up every day to the saltiness of his scent and his chiseled face lost in precious sleep.  
  
Levi who had given him so much… and he had given nothing in return but lies.

He hadn’t realized that he was crying until Levi wiped tears off his cheek. “Eren?”

How? How could he tell him? He had already made a huge sacrifice on his part, going so far as to tell him about the siren, but how much more could he hide from Levi? How many more lies could he tell before he fell?   
  
And he had fallen for Levi of all mers. The one who commanded the most elite mermen troops. Eren still didn’t understand why he hadn’t fled from Levi the moment he had heard his name.

The merman’s unique scent and the way he had treated Eren as an actual being had struck him hard. Eren had maintained his primary focus on distracting Levi from his quest. If he had to survive, he had to do everything to keep Levi from finding out about him and the siren, even resorted to leading the merman on a wild goose chase for seashells. What had been his plan for survival had ended up becoming a new cage for him.

What would he do now? How much longer was he to continue like this?

“Eren, are you trying to set the ocean on fire?”

“What?” Eren snapped. “No, I was just thinking,”

“I could have sworn I saw vapors coming out of your ears,”

“Shut up,” Eren swatted his bicep and was turned over and pushed into the sand again. Levi hovered over him, his arms thrust into the sand on either side of Eren and creating yet another cage.

“What now?” Eren asked, his claws examining Levi’s snowy body and the numerous scars painted on him.

Levi had a new emotion swirling in his metallic eyes, something that he couldn’t put in words. He simply bent low before saying, “Do you hate me?”

Eren was startled by his question. “No,” he replied. Why would he?

Levi looked relieved. “It’s… it’s just that you said you don’t like mermen, and you like mating even less,”

“I don’t hate you, Levi,” Eren said earnestly. He could never bring himself to hate Levi no matter what. If there was one thing he could ask of nature, it was Levi. He wanted him, longed for him dearly, wishing that the merman would conceal Eren in his powerful arms and let him sleep there for the remainder of his life. He wanted Levi _so_ bad, he couldn’t care less that this was how he had felt with Erwin too once upon a happier time. He couldn’t care less that he was making the same mistake.

But Levi wasn’t a mistake. He knew it in his guts. He knew Levi was not Erwin and never will be.

“Eren, you know who I am… and what my position is among the mers… and I.. I” he stammered, the words getting stuck in his throat. He looked at Eren with a pleading expression before gulping and inhaling. “I…I’ve been without a mate for a really, really long time… like longer than the normal time required for a merman to find a mate. It’s because I’ve never been able to find myself a mermaid who could, you know… I was never comfortable with other mers. No one until now….”

He paused, and Eren felt his breath hitch. He cupped Levi’s cheek, stroking his sharp cheekbone and wishing those lips to be on his again.

“And, well… you are different from most mers. You’re… brilliant,” he laughed breathlessly and a shiver went up Eren’s spine. “You are so brilliant and beautiful Eren, I just… I couldn’t. You were everything I ever wanted. I wanted you _so_ much… I’ve always wanted you,” he finished with a whisper.

“I’ve wanted you too,” Eren told him quietly. _Please, take me away from this. Make me yours. Free me from this cage._

Levi’s face lit up so beautifully that Eren sucked in his breath, drinking in the twinkle in his eyes. “Eren…” Levi was now saying slowly, “I’ll do anything for you. I’ll keep you safe, I’ll make you happy, I’ll let you be free and do whatever you want… I’ll accept you no matter what,”

 _I’ll accept you no matter what_ …

The very words Eren had longed to hear ever since he was a little pup… the words Eren had always wanted to hear…

“So… please, will… will you do me the honor of being Erwin’s mate?”

He could have sworn that his heart had almost stopped. The blood in his veins ran ice cold and his throat felt like someone was pouring liquid sandpaper down it.

“What?!” he breathed.

“Will you be my mate?”

And suddenly, it wasn’t his Levi anymore, it wasn’t his beautiful raven-haired beauty with his silver eyes who made him laugh and feel loved; it was somebody else, a towering brute with icy blue eyes and a cruel smirk. His canines were barred and fins out, heavy tail crushing Eren’s tail and his body.

“ _Not you_ ,” he whispered in horror. “No, no, no, NO!”

“Oh, sweet Eren… if only you had listened to me. I told you: you’ll never belong,”

Eren screamed; he screamed a long piercing wail, hoping that anybody would come and save him, but all his years of experience had taught him the same: there was nobody for him to trust, nobody to come to his rescue. He was very much alone and very much vulnerable, always at the mercy of nature and her hypocritical faces.

Erwin turned him over, his unnaturally long and wicked claws out for the world to see. Eren wrestled him helplessly, thrashing his tail and slashing with his claws. His head was pushed into the sand as serrated canines landed next to his throat and moistened the area.

“ERWIN, STOP!” his cry came out muffled as sand went into his mouth. He choked and spluttered on it. A canine sank deep into him and two claws ripped into his waist. The mouth at his neck tore apart his skin and the coppery taste of blood filled Eren’s mouth as it mixed in with the sand and suffocated him.  He kicked and struggled desperately, screaming and screeching for help and release.

Another spasm of pain so horrible it nearly made him black out passed through Eren. Erwin ripped a part of his shoulder off him and Eren’s throat almost tore with the force he screamed with. He was turned over so that he was looking into crude icy blues.

“How many times do you make the same mistake Eren? Your family, me… and Levi…” his eyes glinted at the merman’s name. “How many times do you dance to the same song? And trip over?”

Eren forced his chest to heave up and down. _Breathe,_ he commanded his body, which was rapidly betraying him as he watched the brute above him helplessly. Fear clouded his eyes and his panic kicked in; he willed himself to move, to turn but his body remained completely mobile.

Erwin cackled. “And now, your own body… see, even _it_ doesn’t like you…”

Eren willed himself to turn and throw the brute off him again, but his stupid tail continued to float in water like a dead piece of seaweed. His lungs were beginning to compress as the air no longer decided to move into them. His arms were lead. His eyelids drooped lower and lower. He felt so heavy and sick.

“What will you do when Levi sees you for what you really are?”

_Fight. If you surrender here, you lose. If you lose, you die. You need to live. She wanted you to live._

“Eren, you didn’t answer the question,” he almost purred. “What will you do when your precious merman sees you for what you really are?”

“I… won’t… let… him see…” Eren growled and coughed as sand and blood ran down his throat. He tried to speak, but words were choked back by the mixture of sand and blood that sent him coughing and sputtering. Erwin leered as he trailed a claw over the mermaid’s cheek. Eren panted: he had to run. He had to fight. But he was so tired…

“That concerned about Levi? What’s so special about him?”

_He makes me feel safe. He makes me feel protected. He makes me feel loved. He makes me feel like I belong._

“What does he have that I don’t? Why do you want him so much?”

_He cares about me._

“Why are you risking so much for him? What is he to you?”

Darkness closed in around him, calling his name with the promise of sleep and Eren gladly answered the call, too tired to fight back. Letting his eyelids shield him from the horrible things tormenting him, he replied:

 _He’s the home I can never hope to have._  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> None of this is real, except for Levi's POV in the beginning. The rest are Eren's nightmares.


	20. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren and Levi reconcile

The cave he woke up in was very dark. The black was pressing in on his eyes the way the silence was pressing in on his ears. Eren sat up groggily and winced as his sides throbbed painfully. Images of a smiling baby swam in his head; he shook himself, trying to rid his mind off things.

It had all been a nightmare. A stupid, stupid nightmare.

Eren’s ears twitched. They flipped back and forth to ease the strain and relieve them of the uncomfortable position they had been in during his slumber. His tail uncoiled from beneath him and he waved it once to regain feeling. The scales glittered and Eren waved it again, feeling an odd sense of satisfaction as they glimmered in the dark cave.

The sound of bubbling water made him look around in alarm but it was only Isabel. The mermaid peeked out of the water with a smile. “Hey, how are you?”

Relieved, Eren scooted over to her. “I feel like I was flushed down a toilet,”

“I have no idea what that means, but Levi wants to see you,”

Eren stiffened. Levi… Levi had hurt him. Levi was leaving. Levi was _leaving him_. He was going to be left alone here! Without any protection! The memory of their argument came back and Eren immediately looked at his waist but there wasn’t any trace of the bruises Levi had left on him.

“Should I let him?” Isabel asked, frowning.

Eren thought. “Why does he want to see me?”

“He said he wants to talk,”

The familiar trickle of fear ran down his back. What did he want to talk about? What was going on? Had Levi managed to find out something else about him? Was he here to kill him? Had the siren done something else to grab Levi’s attention?

Eren felt sick and his hands began to sweat and turn cold. He glanced at Isabel, who was looking at him with concern. Wanting some time alone, he gave a jerk of his head. She disappeared at once.

His chest began to shrink and he gripped his throat when his windpipe tried to choke him by blocking itself. Breaths came out as painful pants and he curled up on the cave floor tightly, his tail thrashing for relief. He could feel Erwin’s grip on him again, threatening to crush his throat. The temperature dropped suddenly and it felt like a million icy knives slashing open his chest. His hands shook uncontrollably and he gripped his throat harder, trying to pry phantom claws off them.

Phantom blood flashed before his eyes, drenching him and the cave. Cold tears raced down his chin and the faces of all those he had failed to save swam before him; all those who had been slain because of him looked down at him, sneering cruelly. They were whispering in sinister tones and mocking him. Faintly, he could hear his mother’s voice and his own frantic shrieks as he called for her, trying to reach her before she could disappear again.

 _Stay safe_ ,  _love._

_No... no, no, no! He was trapped here! He was trapped with the merfolk!_

“Eren?”

Eren opened his eyes only when the salty fragrance of the sea hit him like a brick. His chest loosened up at once; he could breathe again. He gratefully took in huge gulps of air to steady himself. The scent was stronger than ever and it drove everything away from the whirlpool that was his mind, filling him with a strong sense of safety and warmth.  _Home_ ,  _home, home,_ his heart chanted.

He wiped off his tears and turned around to meet a worried Levi looming over him, both arms on either side of Eren like as though he were about to pin him down. Eren felt light-headed at the amount of relief spreading through him.  _He was safe. He was alive._

“Hey,” Levi greeted him and bent low, stopping just before their faces could touch. He didn’t say anything, just continued to survey Eren. His scent slowly started to show hints of nervousness and he eyed him carefully with a strange pleading look. Eren stared back, not understanding. He wanted to be touched, he wanted to be warmed. It was infuriating; the way they were so close to each other, yet their skin refused to make contact. Levi was unusually tense and his scent indicated he was getting agitated.  
  
It took a while before Eren understood: Levi was asking for permission.

His eyes widened and burned; even after everything they had been through, even though he had been hurt countless times, even though Levi could have just done whatever he wanted with him when he was this vulnerable, Levi was still holding back, and  _asking_ him for  _permission._  Eren tried to stop the tears but they escaped and went down his cheeks. He gave a tiny nod and saw Levi relax. He sighed and nuzzled his head against Eren’s as Eren wrapped his arms around his neck, their fight forgotten. Levi was still here.

Levi rubbed his chest on Eren’s and began to croon soothingly; the friction was perfect – not too forceful, not too light. It was one of the many things that attracted him to Levi – the merman, despite being one, was absolutely gentle with him in a way Eren had yet to grow accustomed to.

Eren found himself being lifted up into Levi’s arms and straddled on his tail. He tried to protest that he was still pissed off with the way Levi had treated him and that he needed time alone to be an overdramatic asshole, but Levi simply began grooming him like as though it was a normal routine.

It was one of the many things that baffled Eren about the mers. Mermen could sense their mate from the moment their noses recognized and accepted the mermaid’s heat scent, which was a great advantage as it prevented unnecessary heartbreak. Humans went about, giving their hearts to random strangers before it was shredded to pieces, but they’d repair it again and seemed in a hurry to make the same mistake. Mers on the other hand, often couldn’t handle the grief of heartache, especially the frustrated, aggressive and lone mermen.  
  
What was stranger was how quickly the mers grew attached. Humans took a huge amount of time to even open up about the most mundane parts of their lives, but the mers gave away their hearts so quickly and so  _easily…_  they trusted their potential partners enough to know that they wouldn’t be put through the despair of loss and betrayal. Eren supposed that was the key reason why Levi was so relaxed around him and had no problem invading his personal space; had Levi been human, he wouldn’t have talked to Eren for at least a month, much less open up.

“What are you thinking?” Levi’s deep voice shook him from his thoughts and he inhaled as another blast of salty breeze hit him, calming his nerves.

“About last night,” Eren snapped and tried to wriggle his way out of the embrace, but Levi was in no mood of letting him go. His arms were made of steel. Eren turned to face him and scowled, but Levi chuckled, which made Eren angrier.

“You’re adorable when you are pissed off,”

Eren seethed with rage. Who the fuck did he think he was?! He had the audacity to call Eren ‘adorable’ after knowing full well what he did and there he squatted, like a smug hippo. Eren glowered at him, but it did nothing whatsoever to make Levi deem him less ‘adorable’.

“Fuck off,” he growled and furiously squirmed, but only entertained Levi further. He thrashed his tail and tried to bite Levi, sinking his teeth into his bicep and gnawing on it, making Levi laugh. Eren groaned, aggravated

“You’re going to bite my arm off at this rate,” Levi observed sarcastically and pulled Eren back. Holding his arm tightly, he began to turn Eren around. “What are you doing?!” Eren hissed.

“Your bruises… have they healed?” he asked uncertainly and for the first time since Eren had seen him that day, his tone was somewhat abashed.

“…Yeah,”

Levi didn’t seem satisfied with Eren’s answer and examined his body, tracing his knuckles gently over the areas where it was mildly dark. Eren winced and turned his face away but Levi’s sharp eyes caught the movement.

“How bad does it hurt?”

“Bad enough to make me want to gouge your eyes out,”

Levi stayed quiet, having the grace to look ashamed. For a second, Eren felt a huge balloon of satisfaction swell up inside him before it was punctured and replaced by guilt; he doubted anyone had ever made Levi feel ashamed of himself like that before.

“I’m sorry,” Levi said quietly, slowly drawing Eren closer. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you Eren. I swear on my honor as a merman. I’d never hurt you, believe me,” He pleaded. “I’m not Erwin,” he added.

The sudden mention of Erwin brought tears into Eren’s eyes again and they flowed out before he could control himself. The nightmare came back in full force and Eren bit his lower lip in frustration as he tried to desperately stop crying. However, Levi was there again, and he pressed his warm shoulder into Eren’s face as Eren sniffled, hiccupping. He had never felt more pathetic or weak, and it just wasn’t fair; how was it that Levi could be so strong and never be unfazed no matter what? How could he be so warm? Why couldn’t he be more like Levi and try to stand up for himself? He wasn’t some mewling baby that needed to be comforted every five seconds, but he felt so helpless all the time; if only he had a magic eraser to wipe away everything…

“Please, can you forgive me? I’ll never hurt you ever again Eren, I promise.”

“It’s not that,” Eren cried as he buried himself under Levi’s neck. “I just had a nightmare and I didn’t like it,” he gulped as Levi ruffled his hair.  
  
“Oh Eren,” Levi sighed, almost in relief, and the tension in his scent vanished instantly. “Eren, look at me,” he cooed and lifted his chin up. Eren struggled, not wanting to show his tear-stained face, but gave in to Levi’s gentle touch and met his gaze and almost felt his heart stop. The amount of warmth and tenderness he showed made Eren cry again as he tried to hide.

 “You’re safe here,” Levi assured him. “Erwin will never get to you,”

“I… I doubt t-that. He’s always done anything he could to have me,”

“And he didn’t get what he wanted. If a huge, nasty merman like him couldn’t do anything to a mermaid like you when you were at the shore, then he can’t even blink at you while you’re safe and secure in the community. That’s why you’re afraid aren’t you Eren?” Levi pushed his brown locks back. “You’re afraid that Erwin will get you when I’m gone?”

Eren trembled violently and nodded. “He’ll stop at nothing… nothing at all… he’ll stop at nothing to get me,”

“He’ll never have you,” Levi promised him grimly. “As long as I stand, he’ll never lay a claw on even a single a strand of your hair,”

“Levi, you don’t know him!” Eren protested, hoping to change Levi’s mind one last time. “You don’t know what he’s capable of! You don’t… you don’t know what he’s… he has done… you don’t understand! Please, listen to me!”

“Eren, I don’t care what he is or what he can do. I won’t let him hurt you,”

“But Levi! He has… you don’t know anything, please don’t do this!” Eren begged hysterically. “Don’t go Levi, please don’t go!”

It was crucial that Levi understood what he was playing with, what he was getting himself into, but how could Eren explain without trapping himself in another cage? How on earth was he to tell Levi without exposing himself? If only he had the courage, but Eren had never been brave.

He had been running away his entire life.

“Eren?” Levi asked again, grey eyes tinged with concern and Eren felt his already cracked and bleeding heart break more. How could he do this to Levi? Eren knew he was disgusting, but now he had hit an all-time low. He was being a shallow piece of filth and suddenly couldn’t bear to be touched by Levi any longer.

“Let me go,” he pleaded. “Please. Let me go,”

Levi exhaled in annoyance. “Eren, I am not letting you go anywhere. What part of ‘you are safe here’ don’t you get?”

“The ‘safe’ part!” Eren shrieked in hysterics. He was breaking, losing control and falling, all at the same time. “Erwin is a fucking  _beast_ , Levi! He won’t stop until he has me! I’m just another trophy for him to collect, he wants me, madly, and he’ll get rid of anything in his path, Levi! He even killed –”

Eren broke off and immediately clamped a hand over his mouth, not daring to look at Levi. He could feel the weight of the merman’s stare burn through him and the claws gripping him stiffened.

“Killed?” Levi’s voice rang out.

His breathing became fainter as his windpipe contracted and Eren felt the panic attack commence. Waves of terror crashed on him and he shook harder than ever, struggling to breathe. He wanted to run, run and hide on the beach like the stinking rat he was and waited, waited for Levi to lose himself and finally explode.

He didn’t. Eren was pulled into the solid warmth of Levi’s chest; was warmth a thing that still existed? His cheeks were cupped and nudged upwards. He miraculously made out grey circles before sweetness exploded into his mouth; the grip on his waist was gentle, as gentle as it could be, but the lips covering his were fierce. Eren shuddered as another blast of warmth flooded him, numbing his nerves.

Levi entered his mouth and brushed his tongue, stroking it before pulling back. A thin thread of saliva hung on to their separated mouths, and before he could stop himself or hold back, Eren threw himself on Levi, kissing him greedily. He wanted this. He needed this.

Levi raked his hair back and Eren moaned into their joined lips, as a wet suck echoed throughout the cave, followed by another moan. The rational part of his brain was berating him, saying that it was Isabel’s cave and they ought not to be trying to get this intimate here, but he honestly couldn’t care less. Nobody bothered listening to the rational part of themselves.  
  
He was afraid and going insane, and the only thing that bounded him to reality was the firm but reassuring pressure of Levi’s claws on his back and his thin lips. Levi kissed him with equal fervor, puffs of breath mixing with Eren’s and dazing him. He had wanted this for a long time, wanted to be with Levi for as long as possible, but now Levi was going away and leaving Eren alone again, to be consumed by his nightmares.

Levi broke away, panting for breath as Eren did the same and rested their foreheads together. Levi tried to kiss him again, but he turned his face away, fresh tears falling down.

“…Hey, it’s all okay. It’s… fine. Eren, you don’t… you don’t have to worry so much, it’s normal,” he explained as Eren looked at him in puzzlement. “It’s normal for mermen to fight for the right to court… and it’s normal for mermen to die in the attempt… heck, even I’ve seen many mermen slaughtered just for the sake of a single mermaid, and you…” he eyed Eren up and down, his pupils becoming wider. “You’re worth fighting for,”

“…Huh?”

“You are someone worth fighting for. I know I’d fight like anything and butcher the shit that dared to make a claim on you,” he panted. His inky black strands were messed up and his pale cheeks were colored _._

Eren stared at him in wonder.  _Why? Why would you fight for something like me? You deserve the world Levi and all I can give you are lies._

“You said many mermen had tried to make a move on you… and that’s why you hate mermen. You said that to me when we first met remember? Did Erwin kill them all?”

“…He did… and… he did more than that…”

“More? You mean the way he abused and molested you?”

“…Yes,” Eren lied.

Levi’s features hardened. “Not anymore. He doesn’t know where exactly you are. You can stay in Isabel’s cave if you want… but if you try to explore the village while I’m gone, Mikasa and Hanji will beat the shit out of any merman who dares to touch you. I trust them both with my life. And yours,” he stated solemnly. “Mikasa knows how much I care about you… and she is fierce about you and Armin. She’ll throttle anyone who tries to hurt you or Armin,” he laughed breathlessly. “The village is guarded by Mike, who’s the second-best trooper after me and a bunch of others who are skilled and brilliant. You’ll be protected here Eren,” Levi promised so earnestly that Eren almost believed him.

“You can go to the sitters and play with the pups… they’ll love you for sure, I mean, it’s hard not to, and you’d love that too. So what do you say? I have to go Eren... but I’ll be back,” Levi kissed him again, but this time it was soft and slow, like he wanted to savor every second. Eren melted in his touch and leaned into him. He didn’t want this to end; he wanted to stay like this forever.

It would vanish soon. Everything would go to hell once Levi found out. So why not take these memories with him? Memories that didn’t feel like broken shards…

Nature was a bitch and she never gave him what he wanted. They parted reluctantly. Levi searched Eren’s face for his answer and a soft smile that made Eren’s stomach do a cartwheel graced his lips. He pinched Eren’s cheek and mumbled a goodbye before he launched himself into the water and disappeared with a flick of his rippled blue tail.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whooo. Sleep time.  
> Kudos, comments and questions are always appreciated <3   
> Thank you for reading!!


	21. The sitters' fortress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren visits the Sitters.

“So what do you want to do today?” Isabel chirped excitedly, chewing on an eel. Her green tail swished about and Eren found the resemblance between her and Ariel from the Little Mermaid uncanny. However, unlike Ariel, Isabel wore no purple seashell bra. In fact, none of the mermaids did. It still made Eren blush sometimes, but he had to remind himself that these mermaids were not like the ones based on human fantasy.   
  
They had serrated, piranha-like canines, deer-like pointed ears, colored scales scattered on their shoulders and arms that were jelly-like and had special pheromones that gave the mermaids and mermen their distinctive taste based on their personalities. They had fins, slits that were gills on their neck along with glands under the skin that secreted the thick viscous liquid whenever the mermaids were in heat. They were primitive and an old, proud race that was intelligent to a certain extent. But the merfolk had never felt the need to cover themselves, and they had lived like this for thousands of years.  
  
No, there was no reason for Eren to feel shy just because humans would have freaked out at the sight of breasts being out in the open for the world to see.

“Oi, I’m talking to you!”  

“Wha –”  Eren jerked and the eel slipped from his grasp. He hated eels. They were too slimy. Even back at the shore, he had never tried to catch eels. Fish was better. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Levi told me to stay in your cave,”

Levi had left Trost right after he had seen Eren, and despite reassuring him, Eren still felt heavily sick. Eating was a great help, but his stomach was still tied in a tight knot. He didn’t doubt Levi’s capabilities or his reputation; he knew that Levi would come back alive.

It was the coming back part that worried him. When he came back, they both would be enemies. He had lied endlessly to Levi and now everything would strike back. Eren still considered making a run for it, taking his chances and fleeing, but Levi hadn’t been lying; the security of the village had been increased ever since he had left at early dawn, and Eren knew that there was only one way out of the community; said way was guarded by the second-most strongest trooper alive who looked terrifying compared to Levi.

“Oh come on, you’re not actually going to do that, are you? There’s so much to see! Hey!” Isabel’s eyes shone. “You can go to Levi’s cave! You haven’t been there, have you? Strictly speaking, mermaids aren’t allowed, but since he’s not here,” Isabel smirked slyly. “We may pay a _visit._ After all, you might want to see your mate’s cave,”

Eren’s face heated up again. “We’re not… I’m not his mate,”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, keep telling yourself that. He’s gonna bite you any day now. You both have courted enough. Haven’t you seen how he looks at you?”

“Oh yeah?” Eren challenged, briefly forgetting about his fears. “How does he look at me? With his eyes?”

Izzy moved close, her chin up. “He looks at you like as though he wants to _fuck_ the guts out of you,” she whispered seriously. “So you better brace yourself… he will claim you Eren, and when he does,” she suddenly smiled, like as though the prospect of what lay in store for him gave her pleasure, “He _will_ make sure that _every single mer_ knows who you belong to,”

* * *

“Eren! Over here!”

Armin waved at him, beaming. He sat on a rock next to Mikasa, who again reminded Eren of a human-orca hybrid. The similarity lessened considerably when she smiled. He swam over to them with Izzy and let Armin encase him in a hug as they butted their heads.

“What are you doing here?”

“Oh, my sweet brother asked me to murder anyone who breathes in your direction,” Mikasa said nonchalantly, like as though she was used to murdering mers who breathed in _her_ direction. “So I’m being a good and dutiful sister and keeping an eye on you,”

“Brilliant. I look forward to seeing your murdering skills,”

Mikasa snorted. “I like you better now,” she said with a genuine smile.

That smile lit her up like a pearl. Eren looked at her with wonder, suddenly feeling warm. She was Levi’s kin. She wasn’t a strange merman anymore – she was Levi’s kin. Making a split-second decision, Eren swam towards her. Her face was imploring as he cupped her cheeks.

“I like you better now too,”

Perhaps it was the fact that he now knew she had another mermaid to occupy her interest that eased Eren. So he gently butted their heads together. When he withdrew, it was to find Mikasa staring at him with wide eyes.

Then she beamed. 

“Aw, look at you little pups!”

“Hanji!” Armin squealed and hugged the brunette mermaid when she came close. She grinned them all, her brown-red irises sparkling when they landed on Eren. “Oh look, it’s Levi’s prized possession,”

“Not.”

Hanji chuckled and reached to ruffle his floating hair, a challenging task. “Well, you must be, if he asked both me and Mikasa to kill everyone who tried to blink at you. What are you all doing here?"  

“Eren wanted to go pay a visit to the sitters,” Isabel told them, looking at Eren for confirmation and receiving it when he nodded.

“The sitters…” Hanji crossed her arms. “Why the sudden interest?”

“I just want to see the young pups,” Eren said.

He was desperate for a distraction. It was too late; he had gotten himself into an inescapable fix. Thinking about it only sickened his stomach and running away was about as possible as the ocean drying out.

Eren’s mind screamed at him to run, to abandon all sense and just _go_ , but no matter how terrified he was, he wouldn’t run. He would stay and face what he had done. He wouldn’t run away again. He had been running all his life; he wouldn’t run now.

He owed that much to Levi. To the one merman who had shown him such respect and affection.

“It’s better than just being trapped in a dingy old cave all day,” Hanji agreed. “I would definitely go crazy,”

“Implying that you haven’t gone crazy yet,” Mikasa rolled her eyes and lazily swished her tail.

“To the sitters it is!” Isabel whooped and grabbed Eren by the wrist as she sped off. Eren yelped in alarm when she lurched sideways but she impatiently dragged him with her like a great rag doll, Hanji, Mikasa and Armin following behind in close pursuit.

Eren observed the colors of the mer world around him in awe, knowing that he had only a few days before all this ended. So he took it in. Years of spending his life at the shore had adjusted his eyes to the golden of the sand, viridian of the ocean, blue, purple and crimson of the sky and the greens of the trees and bushes. But the mer village was a completely different dimension.

Scales of red, green, silver and gold flashed by him as the shoals of fish darted past in their little groups and wriggled their tiny fins. Some of them gathered around pink and red corals, feeding on planktons or tinier fishes. At one corner, his sharp mer vision made out a struggling fish in the grasp of tentacles – a sea anemone had the poor creature in its clutches whilst it thrashed madly. It was done for; there was no way the fish could escape those tentacles.

Eren couldn’t help but relate all too well.

Forests of kelp surrounded them, hiding huge mounds of rocks and a series of jagged cliffs. All these, Armin explained, were the caves of the merfolk. The kelp not only attracted fish but also hid the mers’ caves very well. Hanji tugged at a swaying kelp tendril and began munching on it, insisting she hadn’t had her breakfast yet.

“Tastes good,” she offered a tendril to Eren, who hastily shook his head. His stomach wasn’t doing too well – it had decided to cramp again; for what reason, Eren didn’t know. Come to think of it, he felt too hot and sticky, despite being in the deep blue.

Chalking it off as nothing but nerves and fear for what lay ahead, Eren ignored his stomach. When the cramp worsened, he winced. “Actually, can I have some of that kelp?”

Hanji obliged at once.

The ocean was busy and crowded as more and more merfolk began to come out of their caves, sending friendly waves and greetings to one another and to them. Mikasa swam close to Eren, keeping an eye out for any merman who showed a spark of interest in him; Eren was again reminded of an orca, what with Mikasa’s piebald black tail and hair, and the white streaks along her fins. She had sharp ridges along her biceps and back and nasty claws. Her tail ended in fins equally sharp.

Fortunately, no mer seemed to pay them much attention except to just hail them. 

“How much farther?” Eren asked.

“A bit more,” Isabel replied.

“We’re going too slow,” Eren grumbled.

“Oh, is that so?”

Eren should have learned by now how dangerous the glint in her eyes was.

She put on a burst of speed, hand tightening around Eren’s wrist. He couldn’t even cry out in surprise; his third eyelids flickered and a spectrum of colors more vivid than a rainbow streaked past him. Eren felt like he was zooming through a kaleidoscope and forgetting his discomfort for a moment, whooped with joy at the sensation of the salty water flowing on his gills. He turned in Isabel’s grip, swimming backwards so as to catch a glimpse of the water above him, but it was dark; the mer community was right at the _bottom_ of the ocean.

Which made his stomach clench with fear again – the diving gear Mike had found near the entrance…

The owner had been mutilated, no doubt. The damned siren… Eren hoped Levi was all right. He didn’t want any more blood on his hands and definitely did not want Levi to be hurt in any way. Crossing his fingers and hoping on all hope that Levi would make it back to him safe and sound, Eren sighed and swam on to distract himself from his morbid thoughts.

“Here!”

They stopped in front of a huge, looming cliff that was the biggest series of rocks Eren had ever seen, bigger than the cliff guarding Trost. It looked like a ghastly fortress, dangerous and foreboding. Eren glanced uneasily at Armin, asking whether they were at the right place or had accidentally ended up in Ursula’s cave. He only received a reassuring smile.

Pushing a curtain of kelp aside, Isabel revealed a gigantic, misshapen mouth and swam in. After a few seconds hesitation, Eren too was pulled in by Armin, with Hanji and Mikasa bringing up the rear.

“This is where all the pups or the baby mers are schooled and taken care of,” he explained. “It’s also the place where injured mers are treated, and where pregnant mermaids are looked after and cared for, along with orphan pups,”

“So a school, hospital and orphanage rolled in one huh?” Eren mumbled as they carefully maneuvered among the sharp juts of rocks and through twisting tunnels of seaweed. “How can you remember which tunnel to go through?” he asked, feeling dizzy. It was a labyrinth of seaweed.

“We don’t. No matter which tunnel you go through, you always end up in the same place,” Hanji told him. “So just enjoy the scenery,”

“There’s nothing here but rocks and seaweed.”

“Mayhaps. But once you get inside, oooh, it’s amazing!”

Eren’s ears flicked uncertainly as he made out sounds ahead: high pitched shrieks, laughter, cries, and scolding hit his sensitive ears like a brick and he flattened them to the sides of his head. Isabel looked giddy with excitement and Eren remembered that she had always wanted a pup with her mate Farlan.

Being among the sitters must help soothe her depression. And boost Eren’s guilt.

They emerged out of the tunnel and Eren gasped.

“ _Whoa,_ ”

“Whoa indeed,” Hanji smiled.

It was a huge, new world altogether; an open cave with plenty of crevices and pools which, to Eren, resembled an aquarium, but without the glass; mers of all ages floated around, the little ones chasing their friends and fishes around, while some closer to Eren’s age hurried after them, frantically yelling and trying to calm them down. Male and female mers alike were present, and so were seahorses, variegated corals here and there, squids, crabs and tons and tons of fish. Underwater stalagmites glistened from the roof of the cave. Crystals of every color were situated around the cave and cast soft glows that highlighted every oceanic creature that ambled by.

Eren had never seen this many younglings before. Little pups chirped about, laughing and racing, grabbing each others’ tails and playfully biting them. They were all so _tiny…_ their little tails were nothing more than stubs and their fins fluttered with their excitement like hummingbird wings. None of them had their colors yet – they were all so blank and bare. They raced squids and screamed when they received a mouthful of ink. Some were trying to eat the crystals whilst older mers frantically shouted to get the things out of their mouth. One was passed out in a bed of corals while curious fingers tried to nibble on its hair. Armin shooed them off with a swat of his tail and tried to wake the pup, but it rolled over with a happy smile and plenty of drool dribbling from its mouth.

At one end of the cave, a blonde mermaid and some pups were hunched around a large pool beside a dolphin. She clicked her tongue in a vague way and the dolphin responded. The group of pups imitated her and the dolphin tittered back. A wide smile formed on Eren’s face as the pups shrieked with delight.

“Is she… _teaching_ them _how to talk_ with _dolphins?_ ”

“Yep,” Mikasa said proudly. “The poor thing was wounded and tethering on the verge of death, but Annie found him and nursed him back to health. He’s our temporary guest,”

She wore a dazed expression and Eren did a double-take as he realized the blonde mermaid was the one she had been trying to court – Annie. Without wasting time, she left them and swam over to Annie, who saw Mikasa approaching, eyes softening the closer the merman came. Mikasa drew her in with one arm around the waist and butted her head with Annie’s. The pups watched their interaction with rapt wonder.

“Ok,” Isabel tugged his fins. “Mikasa is not gonna return anytime soon. Shall we move on?”

She didn’t even wait for an answer as she dragged him away, back to Armin and Hanji.

“Eren, over there,” Hanji pointed. Eren followed her hand and spotted a bunch of pups mashing up something using rocks while being surveyed by a male mermaid. A green, slimy liquid trickled down from the flat crags. Eren looked at her questioningly.

“They’re being taught which flora can be used for treating the injured and the sick. Basic survival tips – distinguish the poisonous ones from the harmless ones, which can make your belly erupt with a bad case of octopus tentacles, which are used for a headache–”

“Octopus tentacles?”

“Stomach ache,” Armin translated. “Marco once ate something funny the pups had made especially for him, and he swore he had baby squids in his belly, and wouldn’t stop puking and laughing for an entire week,”

Eren’s mouth shaped into an ‘O’. Isabel and Armin pushed him forward. Eren took everything in with wide eyes while Hanji and Armin assisted him with explanations. He had never seen so _many_ mermaids in one place and felt at peace; they were all mermaids, like him. Their soft and sweet scents floated around him, greeting his nose with friendly tickles. Levi was right – being around other mermaids worked wonders to ease his nerves.

For a moment, he almost felt like he was one of them.

Something bumped into Eren for the second time that day and he looked down to see a tuft of ash hair and a nervous smile. “Sorry- hey!” the pup’s eyes widened and he beamed. “You’re the mermaid I met that day!” he said excitedly.

“Falco, was it?” Eren smiled back, bending low to let the pup butt their foreheads together. “Alone again?”

“No, not this time,” Falco twirled around and let out a high-pitched chirp. Three more mers came whizzing in from nowhere to answer his call. One of them, Eren recognized, was the black-haired mer who had caught the seahorse and wanted it as a pet. “Gabi?” he asked, trying to remember.

The mer looked at him in surprise before a wave of recognition passed over her and waved. “Heyya!” she greeted, swimming to meet Eren. The other two mers followed her closely behind.

“Still adamant about seahorses?”

“I told it to one of the sitters, and the next day, they had like millions of seahorses in the cave!” she gushed. “They’ve formed a nest here! So they live with us, and we get to play with them! But they bite if you try to scratch their bellies,”

“That’s… that’s actually a decent plan,” Eren remarked. Instead of capturing one or two, the sitters had brought in an entire colony so the seahorses co-existed now with the mers. The pups could also benefit from seeing new creatures, no doubt. And the cave had plenty of krills in the pools, so that was an added bonus.

It was strange how the mers could exist so peacefully with so many diverse creatures, despite hunting some of them for food, while humans struggled to live with even other humans of different skin colors…

“See ya!” Gabi said, and she hurried off with a shrieking Falco while the other two mers groaned and sped after her. It warmed Eren to see that they were getting to enjoy their childhood (or should he call it puphood? Merbabyhood?). He hoped that they never got to go through what he had.

“Eren, come here,” Isabel led him to another tunnel of the fortress, away from the laughing and chattering, to a much quieter place. Armin took hold of Eren’s hand as they swam. Hanji had vanished off to somewhere. “I want to show you this. Stay quiet, ok?” Isabel whispered.

She didn’t need to tell him to stay quiet. The dark tunnel demanded his silence but Eren could hear hushed voices and labored breathing from ahead. They swam along the channel of water, one hand following the wet rock walls. The closer they approached the end, the more foreboding filled Eren. His stomach cramped again and he felt nauseous.

The stench of blood hit his nose and Eren dived underwater, forcing the aqua on his gills to supply more air to him. He didn’t like this stench. It was far too familiar, far too gruesome. It always made his attacks commence.

“Eren!” Isabel’s scent covered him and her little body pressed against his. Eren hugged her, his nose searching for her scent glands. This wasn’t his usual attack. This was different. He didn’t feel like Erwin was suffocating him. He didn’t feel like Erwin was crushing him. He didn’t feel anything at all.

“Should we go?” Isabel nudged his ear. “It’s nothing bad, I promise!”

“Just felt dizzy,” Eren popped out of the water and shook his head. His guts didn’t give him a break. Invisible hands were twisting and wringing his stomach. It was a miracle his breakfast hadn’t come up yet. Armin hugged his back, splashing some water on him.

“All mermaids react this way,” Armin assured him. “This blood is different from the usual smell. Sniff it,”

Eren took a sniff, nose scrunching up when the stench hit him again but Armin was right – this didn’t smell like death. It didn’t smell as foul as when Erwin killed.

“What’s going on?”

“I told you,” Armin tugged him and they continued swimming. “This place is not just for pups. It’s for the injured and sick mers as well. But they are kept in a separate area so as to not infect the healthy mers and pups. This place,” Armin pushed more seaweed aside to reveal a giant, spacious grotto. “is for the pregnant mers,”   
  
 A shrill cry cut through the water suddenly and every mer flinched. Armin grimaced, his claws digging into Eren’s forearm. Isabel winced when another scream rang through the cave.

“That is ugly,” she shuddered.

“Hanji!” Eren pointed with a whisper. A mermaid lay on the rock floor, her muddy tail swishing madly in agony. Around her crouched more mers, Hanji being one among them. She looked grim as her hands worked on the struggling mermaid whilst the others crushed plants with rocks and applied the paste over the mermaid. The usual excitement that surrounded Hanji was nowhere to be seen and it was a severe and serious mermaid who sat in front as she helped. Isabel and Armin went to her side and Eren followed.

The junction where the mermaid’s tail fused with her stomach bled copiously with muscles lining the border. Hanji was carefully composed as the other sitters held the mermaid steady. She squeezed the bust of the mermaid carefully and slowly, while the mermaid gave more cries of pain. Soothing scents of the mers wrapped the air and Eren realized they were trying to calm the mermaid. He too focused on elevating and sending out waves of comfort. The mermaid screamed again and thrashed wildly.

It was over in minutes but felt like hours. A horrible squelching sound drew a final scream and a new cry came into the air. Jitters crawled over Eren, sending pleasure and warmth everywhere they went. Isabel dragged him to the front. Eren inhaled softly, unable to take his eyes off the wailing, pink creature.

It was completely bare, with no colors, fins or scales. The pup was tiny, so _tiny_ … about the size of the fins at the end of Eren’s tail. The pup’s tail was also pink skin, shiny and raw. Not even the tail was covered in skin. It merely looked like an odd, long muscle joined to the torso.

Hanji cooed at it gently, clicking her tongue. The other mers tended to the mother, working to stop her bleeding. Catching Eren’s eye, Hanji gestured with her arm and Eren realized she was calling him.

His nerves jumping and mouth twitching, Eren clumsily swam forward, accidentally bumping into one of the sitters. Hanji carefully handed him the bloody pup and Eren cradled it in his arms; he knew nothing of mer pups but had cared for otter pups, and it didn’t take a genius to know how delicate he had to be with them. He hugged it close, trying to spread some of his warmth into him and the pup squirmed and whined as its tiny fist closed around his chest. He didn’t care that its struggling spread blood over him – it was a whole new life he held in his hands. The pup didn’t have scent glands or even _gills_. Eren’s scent rose higher and his instincts urged him to coat the little one in his scent.

He couldn’t. It didn’t belong to him.

The mother groaned and Eren turned to check on her; much to his astonishment, her stomach was no longer bleeding at all. It had healed imperfectly – like the raw red of the aftermath of a burn. The part of her body where the upper half fused with her appendage steamed, her skin absorbing the strange paste the Sitters had applied to her.

“It boosts the healing process,” Hanji explained.

"Vlosse?" Eren asked.

"Vlosse,"  Hanji confirmed.

The mermaid clutched her stomach and hissed as she shifted while Hanji examined her. Hanji made her lick the same green stuff off a rock that the little mers had been preparing. She pulled a face at the taste which made Eren snort. The mermaid looked at him, honey eyes wide and tired. How long had she labored to birth this pup?

Too exhausted to speak, she gave a small chirp and Eren knew she was asking for her baby. He placed the squealing pup in her arms and her tail curled about them both. The pup looked for her breasts to suckle on and stopped squealing only when it got what it wanted. Now that she had managed to quiet her pup, the mermaid groomed it thoroughly, licking all the blood off its raw pink skin.

Eren wanted to keep watching them, eager to know how a new mother took care of its baby but Hanji ushered them all away. According to her, the mother had labored for a day and a half to birth her pup and needed her rest. Assuring that the other mers would take good care of the mermaid, Hanji led them away from the grotto and back into the tunnel where they swam until they returned to the main cave full of young mers and their caretakers.   

“Have you done this many times before?” Eren asked, pausing to avoid a collision with a youngling.

Hanji nodded. “I’m a Sitter too. I don’t take care of the younglings but am invested in treating the wounded and helping in the birthing process. It is wonderful to see a whole new life come into the world,”

“…Yeah,” But his mother hadn’t had any assistance during her labor. Eren knew he had been born in a tiny grotto not far from the beach. She had gone through that pain all alone.

“Why the long face?” Hanji asked. “Oh wait,” she grinned slyly and put her arm around him. “Does somebody want to become a mother?”

Eren flushed. “What? No! I mean, not like that! It’s just –” he fumbled and it served to heighten her amusement.

“Oh sweetie, don’t be shy!” Hanji winked. “Levi will see to that soon, I promise,”

“I… uh… Levi?” Eren spluttered.

“What, you think he’s gonna let you go without putting his seed in your clit?” Hanji poked his stomach. “You really think you’re gonna get away just like that? From Levi?” she smirked.

Eren summoned his best glare but couldn’t push away the heat in his cheeks. Mating with Levi?

As if on cue, he was back in Levi’s cave. Lying on the soft moss nest whilst the merman loomed above him with his beautiful smile. Levi’s body pressed against his. Their chests breathing together, heart beating together, their tails twined together, Levi’s lips on his and his hands –

“EREN, WATCH OUT!”

Eren jerked and twisted aside, adrenaline pumping hard through him. There was nothing there.

Hanji cackled madly. “Aw, did I interrupt someone’s dreams?”

“Shut up,” Eren grumbled. He tried to push her away but the brunette caught his fist easily. She looked around for Isabel and Armin, finding the two immersed with a youngling happily displaying its clam collection. Hanji took him to a secluded corner of the cave, checking to see if any hidden pups were about.

“Eren… how long has it been since you matured?” she looked serious now. It was alarming how quickly her moods could change.

“Two years?” Eren shrugged. “It could be more,”

“Are you scared of Levi?”

Eren started. “No! I’m not scared of him at all!” he said earnestly.

She didn’t speak and surveyed him with her shrewd red-brown eyes. “I believe you,” she said when the silence was becoming unbearable to Eren. “I know you care for him deeply, and he does too. But, there’s something wrong with him,”

“What is?” Eren asked, unable to fathom anything that could be wrong with _Levi._ If there really was, then Eren couldn’t care less. Levi was perfect to him, and he’d accept his faults no matter what.

“… Do you know how long he has been without a mate? Mermen mature around seventeen years, two years later than mermaids. They mate by the time they’re twenty. The average expected time for a merman to find a mate is three to four years, five being the maximum,” She stopped, studying Eren for a reaction. He looked politely confused, but his mind was whirring – Levi had told him his age. He was thirty-three years old.

“He’s been without a mate for… _sixteen_ years?”

“Nineteen. He matured real early,” Hanji smiled sadly. “As expected. Even as a pup, Levi was the most grown-up and healthiest of his bunch. He had never shown much interest in mermaids, not even when he smelled them in heat. I forced him to sniff many mermaids in heat and it never provoked any reaction from him… until he told me that he tried to… tried to well, unintentionally mate with you even though you weren’t in a heat at the time,”

Eren remembered that time in Hanji’s cave when he had just been brought into the community for the first time. Levi had been so frustrated that day. And Eren had given him a blow job to help calm him down…

Would he be able to do that again? What would it be like to have Levi’s length in his –  

He hastily shook his head, disgusted for thinking so low. Levi was out there, his life in danger as he hunted for the siren and here Eren was, thinking about such things. Especially when he was the cause of all of Levi’s discomfort.

“Yeah. He did,” Eren admitted.

“Eren… you don’t know mermen very well. They are… tough, aggressive creatures, whose only safe abode is their mate. Only mermaids are capable of taming such proud creatures. They don’t know how to be soft or how to get along this well with each other,” she nodded in the direction of Isabel and Armin, who were happily playing with the little mers. “They are awkward and clumsy when it comes to this type of stuff, but a mermaid can show them the way. Mermen live in solitude once they mature and before they mate. They go out into the world and don't return to the villages for a while. After being so alone for such a long time, they yearn to be accepted for once… that’s why they tend to be so rash when a mermaid of their choice pushes them away… they’re afraid of being rejected, of being alone forever… of not being accepted and not given a place… and so is Levi, though he doesn’t show it that well. Being a bastard and all… mermaids want him even less,”

Eren listened to her in silence, feeling miserable. He knew how Levi felt for he understood that fear very well, but how could he give Levi what he wanted, without being pushed away himself? He’d never say no to Levi, but Levi would. Eren knew that he would. Any mer with half their brain cells would.

He had caused too much damage.

“And then, you come along. A mysterious mermaid who has survived all alone at the shore despite being perfectly mature, and you turn his entire world upside down. He loves you, I know he does,” Hanji said as Eren tried to interrupt and continued, “He loves you, he lusts for you, he _wants_ you _so_ _bad_ , it almost hurts to see him. And he hasn’t claimed you yet, even though he has waited for _so_ long… it’s agony for a merman to wait that long. He’s doing the best he can to make you feel comfortable and happy here, Eren. Can you return it?”

Eren’s heart sank and he lowered his head.

“Why don’t you agree to mate with him Eren?” Hanji asked softly. “Why are pushing him away?”

“… He deserves someone better, Hanji,”

Hanji laughed. “Oh come on. You are one of the very few mermaids I have seen who put up with Levi’s bullshit,”

“No. He needs someone…someone who doesn’t… someone who can give him the world. I can’t give him anything. I… can’t.” his voice trembled. “I don’t think I can,”

“He wants you,”

“He… I don’t think he’ll want me anymore once he comes back,” Eren gulped and swallowed the hard lump in his throat.

“And why do you think that?”

“I’m not fit to be his mate! He… Levi is one of the best - no, the  _best_ merman I've ever met and you want something like me to be his mate?!”

Hanji’s eyes narrowed. “Some _thing_? Pardon me, but why a _thing?_ What are you, a sponge fish?”

“Believe me, it would be so much better if I were,” Eren fumed and stormed off, leaving her alone to join Isabel and Armin.  “Eren!” she called after him but he ignored her.   
  
He wanted to run back to the shore and stay there forever; the mer community wasn’t for him and his cheery mood had vanished; he wanted to punch something. None of this – courting, mating, becoming a mother, raising a family – was meant for him. He was meant to live in solitude. He was not meant to be here. Why wasn’t he born a damn merman?

“Eren wait, listen!” She swam after him and grabbed his arm and spun him around. “It doesn’t matter what others think of you, only what Levi –”

Hanji stopped suddenly, her gaze fixated at a distance behind Eren. She looked stony. Eren became aware of the absence of the hubbub and he turned around questioningly. All the mers, young and old, had their tails still and bowed down to five mers who looked thoroughly out of place in the cave. There was complete silence.

“Bow,” Hanji hissed and Eren snapped, hastily bending his head clumsily and almost banging his head against one of the mers close to him.

“Rise,” a mer called out in a wheezy voice and everyone went back to their usual duties and the cave was filled with noisy chatter and titters again. Hanji grabbed Eren’s wrist and pulled him back, her scent filling Eren with unease.

The mer at the front of the group was ancient, judging by the silver of his long beard and hair. His eyes were old and milky, while wrinkles framed his face and physique. The other three mers were also similar in appearance, save for one who had a somewhat younger face and short blond hair. He looked like an older version of Armin at first glance. His pale eyes scanned Eren, not beholding any emotion. Eren tried to keep his mind blank.

_Eren Yeager._

Eren almost screamed; the voice was _inside_ his head and he looked at Hanji in a panic. She didn’t understand.

Eren looked back at the blonde mer. He was as blank as slate.

_Come._

The voice spoke in his head again, and Eren realized only to him. The other mers weren’t paying attention to him or them. The blonde was talking to Eren.

He doubted very much that he was allowed to tell them to fuck off.

Eren turned back, unsure. “What did he ask?” Hanji mouthed.

“To come with them,” Eren mouthed back.

Hanji tugged him and hissed into his ear, “Eren, they’re this community’s guardians. They are old as fuck. And creepy as fuck,”

“Yeah, I can make out,”

Hanji didn’t hear him. “Don’t do anything to provoke them and just listen to whatever they tell you.” She let go of his arm and pushed him forward.

“We’ll be here when you come back, don’t worry,” Armin assured him and Isabel nodded firmly. Eren hesitated, his mind ordering him to get out of there and run back to the shore, and he almost considered it as his tail swished in agreement.

_You will not run, Eren Yeager._

It was a command that was not meant to be disobeyed. The blonde mer’s tone (Eren thought it was the blonde) was stern and scolding. He swam to them against his will, like as though he was being magnetically attracted.

He turned back to catch one last glimpse of his friends, memorizing Armin’s nervous smile, Isabel’s flaming hair, and Hanji’s firm jaw before he was pulled into another tunnel and disappeared from their view.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the hiatus! Being a girl sucks, I hate periods. A lot. I threw up on my grandma.  
> Thank you for reading! Kudos, comments and questions are always welcome! <3


	22. Uri's lament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uri reveals some important information.

Eren hadn’t been this nervous in his life. He forced his tail to stop wriggling as he was led into a small, dark chamber that he thought was where these five mers lived to do whatever wise things all ancient, wise, bearded mermen did. The amount of sagely aura they gave off made him want to puke.

He wanted to go back to Izzy and Armin and join them in the ruckus of the little mers, but here he was, trapped with five mers who were potential murderers (no, Eren was not being paranoid). Being able to read his mind and speak in it did nothing to lessen their creepiness. A growl formed in Eren’s throat – he knew he wasn’t much, but he was sure he could take five old mers down. They all looked like they were about to collapse anyway… except for the weird blonde one who looked like Armin’s twin.

Said blonde chuckled. _We will not harm you. Levi would most probably go on a rampage if we did._

“Why are you talking in my head?” Eren demanded boldly. “Can’t you just use your mouth or something? Lost all your dentures?”

_We cannot speak. Our fate does not let us. And no, we do not possess… dent– whatever you said._

“So is it required by law for all wise dudes with beards to be this freaky and speak into everyone’s minds?” he scoffed. Eren knew he was treading on thin ice; his hot temper would ultimately get the best of him if he didn’t hold his tongue back, but he wanted to go back to Armin and Izzy. He was terrified and alone in a room full of mind-reading mers _he_ didn’t know but who knew him. He didn’t give a fuck. These mers knew his name, his _full name._ They were nothing but trouble.

_Eren Yeager –_

“How do you know my last name?” Eren’s tone was unusually high-pitched. If they knew what he was… 

The blonde mer smiled at him. _I know many things, Eren Yeager. And you know much more._

“Have you been spying on me?” Eren’s fist trembled. “Have you been… oh, I don’t know, monitoring all my actions in case I cause some trouble? What do you want? How much do you know?”

_I know many things, Eren Yeager. And you know much more._

Eren decided he didn’t just dislike him – he hated this mer. Whoever he was, Eren wanted to punch his stupidly wise face and run.

 _You will not run, Eren Yeager._ The blonde said. _We will not hurt you. As I said, we will not risk Levi’s wrath._

“Who are you?”

_The brother of the King. I am Uri, uncle to Petra, Historia and Freida._

Petra… she was the one who had visited him in Levi’s cave – Eren immediately shut his thoughts. If they found out –

_We know. Levi took you into his abode without claiming you first._

Eren clenched his teeth. “How?”

_Often when you try to hide something, you make it blatantly obvious. You cannot lie, Eren Yeager. It is against your nature._

Eren snorted. “Oh, wow. You know my _nature._ Ha. What’s next, are you gonna tell me that I like cranberry juice?”

 _I do not know what juice you talk about._ Uri looked thoughtfully at him. _Does it taste good?_

Eren was taken aback for a moment. “Yeah… it’s brilliant,” he admitted slowly.

_I see. Perhaps I ought to give it a try._

Eren was infuriated. What was he trying to do, make him lower his guard and reveal everything about him? The other four bearded mers were all judging them both quietly and none of them had so far spoken anything. He should be grateful for that. He didn’t know if he could handle another voice in his head. He already wanted to strangle Uri, who did nothing but smile with that stupid face of his.

_Tell me… how much does Levi know about you?_

He moistened his lips, eyeing Uri carefully before he said, “Nothing.”

_Nothing? Not even a tiny detail?_

Eren shook his head. Uri looked almost relieved.

_That is good. We need your help, Eren Yeager._

“Wait. How do you know my last name?” Eren asked hotly. “Merfolk do not have a last name. How do you know mine?”

 _I know_ what _you are Eren Yeager. I know_ who _you are. I know what you want. And you will not get it._

“How do you know my last name?” Eren asked, his voice strained with the effort of not screaming. His head throbbed like mad. He was shivering and his stomach was uncooperative, cramping every now and then. He felt cold and woozy. The chamber seemed to be getting colder and colder with every breath that he took. Mermaids couldn’t tolerate such low temperatures and Eren’s limbs and tail would go numb soon if this continued. If he was cut off from moving… was this what they wanted? To immobilize him so that he could not escape, and then kill him?

_As I said, we will not risk Levi’s wrath. We may be ancient and respected, but none of us are foolish enough to go against Levi._

“Then let me leave now.” Eren pleaded. The mer knew his name. Eren didn’t doubt he knew his identity either. These were the mers his mother had warned him about. “I’ll go away from this community and never come back. I swear it on my life,”

They might let him leave. **_Please, please shut up and let me leave_**.

_I cannot allow that. Levi would bring you back again._

“I’ll convince him otherwise,” he argued.

Uri shook his head and there was a sad smile on his face. _Ah… to be young and lost in love… have you heard of Levi’s achievements Eren Yeager? His accomplishments and his glory? His strength and dedication?_

“I’m well-versed,”

_The things that humans do for love… mermen are no different. Levi broke an ancient law so that he could be with you. He brought you here despite knowing that you wanted to be back at the shore because he wanted you here safe with him. He’s hunting for the siren because it’s his duty… to his King, and to you… his mate. His mate is troubled by the siren. Levi will stop at no ends to end it._

“I am not his mate,” Eren corrected him. He wanted to leave. It was so cold.

 _Are you not?_ Uri smiled at him. _Look down._

Eren gasped when his chest burned. He put a hand there, only to meet fierce warmth.

The center of his chest, a small part that was as big as his fist was _glowing_ gold.

It didn’t burn him badly but caused enough heat to give Eren the warmth that he always had when Levi was with him, the warmth that now expelled the chill air of the cave. The glow slowly moved downwards until it was outlining his slit and Eren doubled over, panting for breath.

Hot lava pooled at the pit of his stomach and he heaved. He couldn’t breathe. There was no air for his lungs and no water to soothe his gills. Eren slumped forwards, tail curling and stomach twisting. His cramps – stupid cramps, fuck they were going to kill him! Was this how it ended? How stupid was he to believe them?! He couldn’t even move to get away from them now! Eren coughed, clutching his stomach whilst his eyes streamed. Fuck, fuck, it _hurt_!  
  
Then just as suddenly as it happened, the pain was gone. He could breathe again and his lungs worked hard to supply air to his brain. He panted, claws clutching his throat and coughed bile out of his mouth. His tail swished, telling him it was ready to strangle Uri. Eren looked up at Uri in fury.

 _If it weren’t for Levi, you’d be dead right now Eren Yeager. You live because of three reasons – one, Levi took you to his abode and broke a sacred law to be with you. Two, you allowed him to test your fertility despite not having been claimed yet, and by doing so, you exhibited the strongest form of trust that has ever been displayed between two mers. And three…_ at this part, Uri’s eyes seemed to glow: _you fed him, a bastard, your breast milk and by doing so, coalesced your body with his. You both are now one flesh, one soul, one heart, and one mind. As long as he lives, so do you. You have Levi’s unwavering love and protection, and no force in this world is strong enough to sever it. No force except… yourself._

The icy water around him was trying to cut into his body, but the blaring glow in his chest flared brighter and drove the cold away. The glow was chasing everything that tried to make Eren uncomfortable – the cold, his fears – and warmed him from the core. It was like having Levi himself beside him, growling at anyone who tried to hurt him.

_Eren Yeager… do you understand the danger you have put the merfolk into by bonding with Levi?_

Eren’s lips were dry. “I never meant to…”

Erwin was next to him, smirking. _I told you._

Uri nodded. _I know. You were never meant to be._

Tears welled in his eyes again. He was painfully aware of the glow, flaring more brightly to push his discomfort away. He tried to ignore it, but it burned more vigorously and he gave a sharp cry of pain.

_I told you so._

_Eren Yeager. Listen to me. Heed my advice. You are a threat to the merfolk, but you are also its last hope. You are its only hope. If this race is to continue, then you must cast your pride aside. If you do not want Levi, Isabel, Armin, Mikasa, and Hanji to die, then you must help them._

“How?”

_Break your bondage with Levi now. Return to the shore and never come back. The siren will not follow you and neither will it try to disturb the merfolk. Give the siren what it wants._

He was nauseated. His stomach was twisting so bad his head began to throb. But the child in him refused to admit defeat. Eren pulled himself up and glared at Uri. “How do you know about the siren?” he asked through gritted teeth, controlling his emotions so as to keep the glow from burning him. The angrier he became, the stronger the glow grew and it almost burned through his flesh. And Eren wanted to rage and scream and burn every mer with him but his chest hurt.

_Who do you think sent it after you?_

Horror, agony, pain, and fury crashed down him at once and continued to swirl around him like the stormy grey eyes of his merman. It all clicked together like puzzle pieces in his head, and everything began to make sense. This mer in front of him… _Uri_ … was the reason he was going through this hell. He clenched his fists and the nails broke the skin of his palm. His mother… she had died because of this mer.

“You…WHY?” The tears flowing from his eyes were anger, pure undiluted anger. “WHY? WHY DID YOU SEND HIM AFTER ME? WHAT DID I EVER DO TO YOU?” He roared.

The golden glow burst and Eren felt a fleeting moment of pain before fire clouded his vision. He rushed forwards and grabbed Uri by the throat, trying to squeeze it as hard as his little claws could. He tried to tear the mer’s neck and gouge his eyes out; nothing mattered anymore – his mother had died, all because of him and now Levi was out there, battling the monster that had killed all his comrades because Eren had refused to submit to the creature, because, like Erwin and Uri both said, his damned _pride_ and stupid, fleeting desire to be _free,_ that no other creature in this world could make him bend down… no, this blasted mer had sent a rogue siren after him. Eren would kill him. Eren would _tear_ him to pieces for what he had done to his mum, Eren would – 

He cried in pain as he was blasted backward and crashed into the cave wall. He tried to rise, but gave a grunt and collapsed again; several bruises were already forming along his waist and back. Fuck, they _hurt._ He flipped himself over so that he could face Uri and the other four bearded mers. Uri was grim-faced, and his hand was smoking. He had done something to push Eren away from him. Eren got up, tail madly thrashing and canines barred at this hateful mer.

 _The merfolk are an ancient race Eren Yeager, and we will not let it be destroyed by the actions of a single mermaid._ Uri’s eyes glowered dangerously. _We will not let the mistake committed by a single mermaid lay this entire species to waste. The siren following you was meant to keep you and your mother safe from harm. It was created for you._

“What?” Eren narrowed his orbs, tail going still. “The siren was… created for _me?_ ”

Eren didn’t know whether he ought to feel angry or horrified, but his mind was pressing for answers, to know more about him, to know why it was him and not someone else… why all these horrible things happened to him, and why he was a trouble magnet that attracted so much unwanted attention… he needed to _know_ and the thirst for answers managed to bring down the burning fire in him. The golden glow on his chest indicating Levi’s bond and protection was still there, pulsating slightly like a second heart. He clutched it, trying to feel his merman’s touch.

 _I am not a heartless monster Eren Yeager. You are an abomination, yes you are,_ Uri said sympathetically as Eren’s face contorted, _but you are my kin, and I cannot harm you. When your mother came to me, hysterical and begging, all I could do was send her away and create a creature that would protect you both. The siren, Erwin, was meant to keep both of you away from the community and thus, ensure yours as well as the merfolk’s safety._

_I kept an eye on you through Erwin, and watched you grow, Eren Yeager, into a bright, young mermaid; you were fierce and strong, independent and wild, bowing down to nothing and always full of energy. You have fire in your veins, warmth in your heart, the ocean in your eyes and the earth in your scent. You were a jewel, and had you been a mermaid in the community, no doubt countless mermen would have gone mad with lust to claim you for themselves. So it was better off, for you to stay alone because of one, the reason I mentioned and two, the… unnatural circumstances of your birth. You are the son of the earth and the ocean._

_But, I did not want you to miss out on the joys of having a mate and siring pups. In return for Erwin’s services, you were to become his mate when your body was ripe for producing. Erwin was everything I thought you ever wanted – strong, handsome, brilliant and loyal. It would have been the perfect story, for you to mate with the siren and for him to keep you safe as well as to ensure the survival of the merfolk. Your mother had made a great mistake, but I thought it had been rectified. For a while._

Eren listened raptly, not missing a single syllable. He was draining all this information in and was tethering on rage, waiting until it was all over so that he could tear Uri down limb by limb. Uri sensed his aggression and sighed.

_Naturally, it did not go as planned. You were too head-strong. You ran away from the ocean and did not come back for a while. Erwin and I were beside ourselves with panic. He searched high and low for you, killing anything that got in his way. He was ruthless. I thought that this was the end of the merfolk… but then you came back. You came back to the ocean one day, and you had grown. You were no longer the sweet little mer full of wonder, but instead, much wiser and you knew the world around you. I do not know where you went to or what you went through, but you had changed._

_You had matured and were a mermaid grown, healthy and ripe. You were as beautiful as sin but stronger than before. When Erwin confronted you for the first time, you fell for him, but what should have been a happy relationship turned into something much more sinister. You inspired lust and envy in him; it was no surprise that he naturally tried to destroy anything that tried to keep you away from him… and he showed his true colors when he murdered that innocent merman who tried to court you._

“And that was when… that was when all the killings began,” Eren whispered.

Uri nodded gravely. _He killed and killed. You attracted humans and mermen alike. All were instantly killed. He went insane eventually, lusting for both you and blood. A siren consumes blood twice a month, but he had had an overdosage._

“I knew what he was doing. He took me to his lair,” Eren said quietly. His fists didn’t tremble anymore. “I watched as he… _mutilated_ those mermen in front of my eyes. He told me I could stop it… if… only if I mated with him. He told me I could end it all,”

_And you refused. Why?_

“Because I didn’t care.” Tears were spilling fast down his cheeks and Eren dug his claws into his hair. “My mother and I had been driven out of the mer community, for reasons I didn’t know, and I hated seeing her in distress. I grew to hate the community, and I couldn’t care less about how many merfolk died because I felt IT WAS WHAT THEY DESERVED FOR LEAVING MY MOTHER TO SUFFER LIKE THAT! I LET THEM DIE BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT TO BE ERWIN’S SLUT AND BE CONTROLLED BY HIM! I LET THEM DIE BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T MEAN ANYTHING TO ME!”

_Until Levi._

“Until… Levi,” Eren choked, hands trembling now. Levi, who had treated him with respect and had welcomed him to the mer village. Levi, who had made Eren feel loved, cared for, safe and wanted. Levi who made Eren laugh, along with Isabel who called him his family, Mikasa who was ready to hurt someone to protect him, Armin who was a brother and Hanji who was a teacher. They all had accepted him into their little family. Levi who was blunt and rude, yet so soft and caring… Eren had each and every one of his scars engraved into his heart, and he himself received more scars the more he cared.

_I should have killed you. But out of respect for what your mother meant to me, I did not. And see where my pity has landed us. Levi battles a deranged siren all alone; his troopers are all either dead or wounded, and the only mer who can stop this mess is you. Once Levi is out of the way, Erwin will bring destruction in his wake to claim the one thing he was promised. You. You are a hindrance to us all, hermaphrodite. Had your mother stayed put, this wouldn’t have happened. You get your rebellious streak from her, you know?_

“Levi won’t lose to that fucker,” Eren hissed. He was glowering. Levi would never, ever lose to that filth of a siren. “He defeated Erwin once. He’ll defeat him again,”

 _Ah, but he can’t._ Uri corrected him. _The last time they had a face to face encounter, you were there. A siren is far more powerful than an ordinary merman, and if you are familiar with how they kill, then you must know that Erwin tried to sing to Levi, to distract him and fill him with lust and the image of what he wanted the most. He used up his energy in the process like a fool but it didn’t work against Levi. Because what Levi wanted was you, and you were right there, so he managed to break free of the illusion._

_Levi has waited too long, far too long for a mate, and his hunger for a partner is consuming him. He hurt you in one of his rage fits. His instincts are not as sharp as they used to be. Tell me, Eren Yeager, what will he do when Erwin sings again? You surely must have realized even the strongest mermen can lose themselves in the grief of solitude… what will Levi do? Will his desire for you finally result in his demise?_

“No…” Eren breathed. “No, it won’t. I won’t let that happen, I WILL NOT LET LEVI DIE!”

_Then do you know what you have to do?_

Uri’s eyes were swimming with pity and regret, while Eren’s were burning with self-hatred. A single mermaid… the birth of a single worthless creature like him had resulted in this horrible mess, and he realized they had been right all along – he was never meant to be. Right then, he pushed away every single thought about his own dreams and his happiness; nothing mattered anymore – only Levi and the other mers he cared about. He took a deep breath to pull himself together: he was doing this for _them._

“What should I do?” his voice shook, but he was steady. He wiped his tears and glared at Uri straight in the eye. “What do I have to do?”

Uri grimaced. _Like I said, sever your bond with Levi, accept Erwin as your mate…_

“And?” he questioned, arching an eyebrow. “There’s usually a third condition isn’t there? Good things always come in threes. Three magic genie wishes, three protagonists, three people to be killed to summon Satan,” he said, rolling his eyes. Uri sighed again and gave him one last pitying look.

_And never return to this place ever again._

“I’ll kill you one day Uri,” Eren swore. “For what you did to my mother,”

_I did what I had to do for the greater good._

“Fuck you and your greater good,” Eren swam out of the chamber. His instincts had sharpened tenfold: the blood was pounding in his veins, and his two hearts, one Levi’s and the other his, were beating together in a strong rhythm. Eren winced as he felt pain in his lower abdomen; Levi must have been injured. That thought alone was enough for him to rush faster. He was _boiling_ … he needed to get to his mate, _now._

Eren burst out of the tunnel into the main cave and laughter struck him; he stared around in disbelief at how happy everyone was, without a care in the world while dozens of troopers and Levi himself were possibly dying. Was happiness a thing that existed? He didn’t pause to explain to Armin or anybody else; he didn’t have the fucking _time._ Without looking where he was going, he zoomed through a random tunnel, the current roaring in his ear, urging to him move faster. His tail obeyed him without hesitation as he put on a burst of speed.

He emerged out of the fortress of the sitters and raced through the aqua, shouting apologies to anyone he knocked over as he swam to the very place from where he had entered this new world. Far south, rose a giant trail of cliffs and Eren rushed there without a single thought beside Levi. He had to find Levi and save him from the siren.

Mike floated on guard duty. He had his arms crossed and arched an eyebrow at the sight of Eren’s flushed face. Eren panted hard, wheezing as he struggled to form words.

“Levi… need… go… trouble… I… go… fuck,” he gasped, coughing. The merman advanced forward and grabbed Eren with his large hands as if Eren were a seahorse. Mike hit him hard on the back and almost broke his spine. Levi wasn’t this rough, he grumbled inwardly.

“And where do you think you’re going?” he asked. “I’m under strict orders to not let anyone out of here, especially you, Levi’s mate,”

“My name is _Eren._ ” He huffed his chest up. “And I’m under strict orders to save the merfolk, so let me pass,”

“And who gave you these ‘strict’ orders?” Mike sneered at him. He was gigantic.

“Uri. Know him?”

At the mention of Uri’s name, all the color drained from Mike’s face. He turned a delicate, sickly shade of green before he went paper white. “Ah, so you know that shit-face,” Eren said with satisfaction. “Can I go now?” he asked.

“Levi–”   

“Levi is my mate, and my mate is in danger. I’m going out there to rescue him whether you like it or not, so either come with me or stay here and let me go,” Eren fumed. “On second thought, stay here and protect the other mers. I don’t want any more mers dying because of me.”   

Just like that, Eren ignored Mike and pushed the curtain of seaweed behind him. He took a deep breath, ready to swim into the giant hole that greeted him and emerge back into the open ocean when his stomach cramped horribly and a sudden wave of giddiness radiated from his clit.

_What?_

Eren heaved and broke down, his entire body shivering violently from head to tail. Dizziness cascaded down on him as he fought the urge to growl. What was happening?

 _Was Levi hurt?_ He thought in a panic.

But, then, why did this pain feel familiar? Was this even pain? Eren wondered in a daze as the sweet scent of fresh earth hit his nostrils. He was sticky and wet all over his shoulders when he reached to touch it and shuddered again. Someone grabbed him tightly from behind.

“Hey! What - are you alright? What’s wrong?” Mike’s voice echoed in his ears, but it was all meaningless static to Eren. He felt flexible and jelly-like. He wanted to lie down and sleep. That sweet scent was calling him to sleep, and he very much wanted to _sleep_ … 

_Mate. Merman. Levi. Bite._

Eren’s guts twisted and he gasped. Before he could stop, one of the most erotic moans he had ever given in his life burst through his lips. Mike was trying to support him. Fear mingling into his lust, Eren realized the only reason he hadn’t been fucked already was because Mike had a mate. Mike was the only one immune to his mating call here.

Another nerve-wracking shudder that made him zone out started from his neck and ended at his slit. Eren put a hand to his stomach as his gut clenched more painfully. When he withdrew his hand, it was slick with a thick and sweet-smelling substance. "Oh,"  Eren giggled, eyes unfocused.

His heat had come.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHAHAHA what happened here was only like, 50% of the truth. There is still more to go. For those of you wondering what's up with Eren's unnatural birth circumstances, I have given many hints in this chapter. Done. Eating break.  
> Kudos, comments and questions are my foood! I am hungry!


	23. Vexation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much. Levi just forms conspiracy theories

Levi’s ears twitched. They were straining higher than usual to relay any unusual sounds back to him. He felt like a radar – something Eren had explained to him as being a human thing that scanned nearby surroundings for signs of any threats. So far, the only remotely threatening sound he had managed to overhear had been a fish getting real _friendly_ with another fish. His tail swished in frustration over not being able to do the same with Eren.

Was Eren awake yet? Levi’s thoughts strayed over to his mermaid – what was he doing right now?  Was he in distress? Was he happy with Izzy and the others? Had someone tried to make a move on him? His palm clenched into a fist and a growl began to roll in his throat at the mere thought of someone gazing at Eren with their eyes clouded with the same desire _he_ felt. He sighed, claws opening and closing in vexation as he waited. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could get back to Eren and take him to his cave.

Levi’s claws irked to mark his mermaid and see his marks on Eren’s golden skin. How would it be like to wake up every day, in his cave and moss nest, curled up next to a warm body without the stabbing ache of being alone? He dreamed about having Eren tease him and ramble about the world every day while knowing that that mermaid was his haven for the rest of his life – he could cry, laugh and drown himself in Eren’s arms, shedding his mask and live without the worry of being pushed away. He could nuzzle Eren’s hair, brush against his soft skin and kiss his sweet lips. He could listen to Eren tell him stories about the human world while losing himself in those ocean irises, only to be slapped awake later.

“Commander, when do we move out?”

Levi felt like he was slapped awake now. “What?” he snapped. “Oh, we move at night,”

“Night?” Eld asked dubiously. Levi nodded absent-mindedly, picking at his claws. “Sirens are not active during the day, gathering from what Hanji told me. If we start at night, we’ll reach the shore by first light, when it’s most likely to be snoring after a late night meal. I know where its lair is… we surround it and then attack. A quick, clean death is what I hope for, without additional deaths.” Levi wrinkled his nose. “Pointless deaths are not my taste,” he said, casting a sideways glance at the merman who fidgeted a little before voicing, “Do you think we can… we can take down a siren?”

“If your nose is blocked and you have a brilliant vomit trigger, then yes.”

“Pardon?” he asked politely.

“Its lair reeks worse than rotting fish shit. Unless you have a strong stomach, then I doubt you can make it till the entrance without swimming off to say goodbye to your breakfast,”

The merman didn’t say anything and Levi was annoyed. Eren would have laughed at what Levi said. Then again, only Eren seemed to actually laugh at whatever shit came pouring out of Levi’s mouth. It gave him another reason to want to return back and cuddle with him. Levi dismissed Eld, crossing his arms while he and the reinforcements waited in the mer village of Shiganshina, which was closest to Trost. Levi wondered if he could go and pay a quick visit to Eren, before shaking his head; he had a job to do: the lives of many mers were on his hand – they were against a siren that had killed almost two hundred troopers single-handedly; mer troopers were the toughest and fiercest creatures Levi knew, and if a single siren could take down so many, then there was no telling what other horrors it was capable of.

While they were idly waiting, his mind strayed over to other thoughts. Levi still wondered if it really was a siren; it seemed to fit, but what if it was more? He still couldn’t exactly pin Eren’s behavior and his fears; he knew Eren was hiding a lot of things from him, a lot more than he thought he could… his behavior was that unnerving and strange. He was musing over the prospect of getting back quickly to talk and sort out some more things with him when a sudden suspicion crossed his mind – was Eren familiar with the siren? Did he know more than he was letting on?

Eren had survived all alone at the shore for so many years, Levi doubted he could have without some external help. He was terrified of Erwin, Levi knew, but Eren had seen Levi take him down; why then, was Eren still afraid? He wasn’t like Levi, to hide his emotions behind a mask. Eren held his heart open and Levi could read him brilliantly with as much ease as breathing. He was scared and Levi longed for Eren to trust him completely so that he could comfort him and have his heart.

What if… _what if_ there was more than one siren? Or what if… no, it couldn’t be… Levi’s mind whirred as he connected assumption after assumptions; he felt slightly nauseated at the thought. Was _Erwin_ the siren? Eren had confirmed that the mers who had tried to court him were all taken down by Erwin; could he be…?

A light spasm of anger raced through him. Had Eren known all along who the culprit had been? And… Levi’s fist trembled as another horrible notion ran through him – had Eren remained silent while all this bloodshed was going on right in front of him?  
Eren had forced Levi to go out hunting for seashells with him when they first met; had Eren been leading him out on a wild chase to distract him from his actual quest?

“Commander, is everything alright?”

His claws had dug into his palms; Levi pushed the concerned merman away as he watched his blood slowly unravel in threads and merge with the ocean blue. He hadn’t realized how angry he was – his heart was pounding like mad and there was a head-splitting ache at his eyebrows. Levi grimaced and tried to press his temple to soothe the pain, pulling his hand back to see more blood. Something tickled his upper lip and Levi pressed his palm there, only to find red staining it when he pulled back; his nose was bleeding as well. Levi found it odd; he had never had a nosebleed before. He supposed it was because of his increasing tension about the siren and how worried he was lately about Eren’s condition.

The mermaid had mentioned he’d go into heat soon… Levi needed to get back to him before something horrible happened to Eren; if he himself had found Eren’s scent so irresistible, then he couldn’t fathom how other mermen would react.      

And the sooner he got back to Eren, the sooner he could confront him about what he was hiding.

He wanted to feel angry at Eren, for having stayed quiet and for misleading him, but Levi couldn’t bring himself to. Eren had been intentionally throwing him off, but those two weeks they spent together on the shore had taught Levi so much about the world around him, and about Eren himself. If Eren had wanted him dead, he could have led him to the siren’s cave; but he stayed with Levi, laughed with him, teased him and made him smile. Maybe, the brunet had been just trying to keep Levi from harm because he himself couldn’t do anything about the siren. And moreover, these were just assumptions, none of which despite appearing to be the most logical explanation, he could actually confirm or act upon; he needed to know both sides of the story before he moved ahead and that was what Levi intended to do.

Maybe, Eren was being threatened. Levi felt a pang of pity for him then – nature knew for how long he had had to live with his life under constant threat and out there all alone. Maybe that was why Eren couldn’t say anything – he was afraid.

But then, why? If Eren was simply being threatened by Erwin, he could have just said so to Levi, who would have taken care of it in an instance. Eren would be free: free to roam the shore as he pleased and of course, to stay with Levi in the mer village. So why? Why would he turn away from all that?

Unless there was something more… something that went deep and deeper than Levi realized.

Levi disliked cowards, but he firmly believed that the words ‘coward’ and ‘Eren’ were complete opposites. Eren was brave and strong, more than any merman or mermaid Levi had encountered. He was skilled, curious and intelligent. If he really was weak and helpless, he could have died a long time ago. Heck, he could have even been assaulted by Erwin and yet when Levi had explored Eren’s slit the other day, the mermaid had proven to be pure and untouched. Eren was a fighter, all right, and a survivor. Levi’s chest inflated a little with hope.

He just needed to talk to Eren and figure out everything; Levi had come too far to lose Eren now. His instincts were already tethering on the edge of insanity and he _knew_ that if he were to mess up now, then he’d go _savage_. A violent shiver made him shake his head – if he were to lose control of himself and do what his father did to his mother…

No. Never. He would _never_ do that to Eren.

Levi’s tail waved in agreement and he took in deep breaths, using his fins to regulate more water to flow onto his gills. His scent was riled up and the other troopers were shooting him scared glances while whispering in hushed tones. He had to calm down; he wasn’t with Eren, to just casually feel whatever he wanted. He had to pull himself together.

Levi gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pounding in his temple. He felt fuzzy and thick-headed. He dragged his palms across his face and found red staining them when he pulled them back. Alarmed, he covered his nose and felt warm blood trickle slowly and merge into the water of the ocean.

“Eld,” he suddenly called and the blonde perked his ears up, looking expectantly. “I’ll check on the sun. You are in charge until I get back.” Eld nodded curtly and Levi, with a powerful swish of his tail, thrust upwards, pushing against the waves.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this was so short, but I was really busy with my school stuff! As usual, thank you all for reading this fic! I love you angels


	24. Son of Earth and Ocean

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AY shit goes down!

It was deathly quiet for miles around, save for the waves swishing about, nature doing her duty. They rushed and fought as wave after wave crashed on each other. Salty breeze washed over the glistening surface. There wasn’t any movement aside from the currents of the blue.

The silence was interrupted when the merman breached the surface with tremendous force and agility, his back curving backward as a result of the power of his upward thrust. Levi gasped, wet hair slicked back and surveyed his surroundings with sharp eyes, pointed ears flicking back and forth, alert. His indigo tail swished in the water to warn any sea creatures in the vicinity of his presence. Levi wasn’t fully in his threat display – his fins were drawn in; there wasn’t much reason to fight in the middle of the ocean and that too at the surface.

The view he met was spectacular – the sinking of the blood red of the sun into the deep blue of the ocean at a distance was stunning because of his blessed mer vision. It was clear and sharp; the sky above was smeared with purple, orange and pink.

As much as Levi would have liked to admire the view, he had more grotesque business to attend to. He shivered as the breeze hit him and felt a sudden pounding of his head followed by heat pooling somewhere in the middle of his nose. Placing his palm there, he found blood staining it again.

For creatures that were highly empathic like mers, mates were their only solitude and it could have serious consequences on their health if they didn’t bond early after maturing. He just hadn’t expected the consequences to be _this_ serious. He had lived along for so long after maturing without being affected like this in the past; maybe the reason he was reacting like this now was because… well, his body had finally got a taste of having a mermaid and now refused to go back to its solitude.

Once you introduced something beautiful to someone, it goes without saying that they keep coming back for more and more.

The sun was setting; Levi could lead the troopers out now. If they set out now, he supposed they could reach there at sometime around sunrise.

It had to be at or after sunrise if they stood any chances against a siren. Day time was a siren’s weakness. Every sea creature had basic knowledge of the weaknesses of other potential threats. For mers…

Levi’s claws traced the delicate area from the earlobe to the sides of his neck; _gills and scent glands._

One tiny hit at the gills – not even Levi had a chance of surviving. Their healing properties enabled them to survive a wide variety of assaults, but a scratch at the gills was a severe injury.    

It was the reason as to why rubbing necks and grooming and scent marking were such important rituals for mers – it was their vulnerable area and it established a basic level of trust. His thoughts went back to him rubbing Eren’s neck and Eren returning the gesture with ease and it coaxed a small smile out of him. Eren had no idea how intimate that action was, and had most likely done it because he wanted to give Levi a response. Levi shook his head. Eren was such a precious little ball of fury, completely unaware of mer customs and how the simplest thing he did drove Levi mad. It gave him another reason to keep him away from anyone who’d taint him, especially Erwin.

Levi had no doubt left that the siren was Erwin; the more he thought, the more it made sense. And the sooner he brought Erwin down, the sooner he could avenge Farlan and all the other innocent lives that had been taken by the bastard. And the sooner he could bring peace to the community and confront Eren before his heat kicked in.

He sighed and looked down to find that the patch of water around him was stained red. The blood kept trickling down his nose and chin steadily in small droplets, and Levi staggered as a wave of dizziness crashed on him like the waves that threatened to drown him if he didn’t keep his guard.

A sudden panic overtook him – what if his condition got worse while leading the troopers to the lair? What if he were to lose consciousness or worse? The troopers would be led straight into a massacre; Levi couldn’t care less if his reputation took a few hammerings; he was more concerned about his troopers; he couldn’t lose _them._ The mer community had lost too much already. So many mermen at the hands of one siren…

Should he try to tackle the beast on his own? Levi glanced at the sky. It was still pinkish orange. If he swam fast enough, could he make it to the lair and put down the siren before his condition took a turn for the worse? Reason yelled at him to not, and go alongside his troopers, but impulse told him to go before he got them all killed. What was one life against so many?

His condition wouldn’t improve until he met Eren or at least got to soak in his scent again, and he couldn’t visit Trost now and abandon his troopers there, even if his body demanded it for his own health and safety. There’d be too much emotional conflict and the pounding in Levi’s head warned him that he wouldn’t be able to take in more mental anguish without having a grave effect on his strength, or his instincts for that matter. So many details were missing, there were so many loopholes and so many secrets – would Eren be able to reveal all and fill the gaps in the story?

They needed more _time._

Levi’s head worked furiously: should he go alone or not? If he did, it would save a lot of time and lives. If he didn’t, something would go wrong along the way. He was feeling increasingly heavy and slow and shook his head to gain focus.

Going out alone? That wasn’t his brain talking – if he went out alone, he’d definitely get killed in his current state. And then he’d never get to see his beautiful mermaid or those ocean eyes again.

But leading an entire army of troopers there? He didn’t have the strength for it. He was too tired and besides, if the other troopers saw him struggling, they wouldn’t follow him. Mermen were high and proud creatures who only followed the strongest; they wouldn’t care about his deeds in the past or his reputation. They wouldn’t follow him now if he didn’t lead them properly. And if Levi messed up, it would cost him their lives. He despised pointless deaths. He had to stop and recollect his thoughts before making a decision and he did.

Taking a deep breath, Levi dived. The cold current did wonders to relieve his headache and he felt considerably better as he propelled faster. The water rushed past his ears as he pressed them to the sides of his skull and tucked in his arms to give his form a stream-lined shape. The blood pounded in his veins as he dived deep and deeper. The ocean seemed to be squeezing him between her hands as Levi’s body contracted a bit at the pressure – somewhere in his mind he recalled a conversation he had had with Eren, something about how both the atmosphere and the ocean exerted pressure on living bodies and the only reason they hadn’t been pulverized was because the blood in their own body exerted pressure to counter nature. If that was true, Levi thought, he gritted his teeth as the pounding of blood in his veins heightened. His body was working overtime and he had decided.

He wouldn’t lead them all. But he wouldn’t go alone either.                                                                           

“Commander.” Eld greeted him with his neck slightly tilted, showing that he didn’t mean harm. Levi panted, having managed to reach him within seconds. He scanned the surroundings, making sure no other mer was in the vicinity. Eld assured him that they were all inside the community, waiting for his orders.

“Eld, we can’t take all the troopers out there.”

Eld looked puzzled. “Why not?”

“Change of plans,” Levi grunted. “Too many mers in one place and able-bodied and aggressive mermen accounts for a lot of aggressive scents. The siren will be alerted by our presence and try to escape.”

Eld opened his mouth and quickly shut it, nodding. “Good point. What are your orders?”

Levi’s ears flapped about. “Sneak up on the bastard and kill it before it knows what’s happening. Four of us can do it. One is me, the other you. Know anybody else strong enough to not piss themselves?”

Eld smiled grimly. “There are two. Gunther, and Oluo, but I’m not sure about the latter… he is skilled though.”

Levi’s black claws glimmered. “Tell them we move out _now_. We can reach there by early light.”

* * *

_Levi. Merman. Mate._

He felt so sluggish and warm… Eren giggled again as his hair floated around him like ominous seaweed. He was briefly aware of someone tugging on his arm, and his nose immediately wrinkled when the unfamiliar scent of apple cider hit him. This wasn’t Levi’s scent. Levi smelt like salt air and the grass after the first spell of rain. No. This wasn’t his lovely mate’s scent at all. He frowned and whined for his merman; Eren’s body had accepted Levi after their little experiment in Levi’s cave and now refused to accept anyone else.

“Don’t touch me,” Eren mumbled, annoyed. Didn’t this mer understand he wasn’t interested? Eren’s viridian tail swished furiously, and the little golden glow on his chest burned brighter. His eyelids were drooping and gut was twisted painfully to prepare himself for being filled, but the pain barely registered in his foggy brain. All that mattered was Levi. Where was he? Eren’s annoyance grew. Didn’t he know to be there during his heats? Wasn’t that what mates were for? Was he out hunting? He hoped Levi would bring back salmon. He loved salmon.

A pair of firm hands grabbed him and he vaguely sensed a gigantic, slimy thing wrap around his lower half. He was pushed into a brick-like solid structure, which upon closer inspection proved to be a chest. Eren looked up to find the big, blond merman peering down on him in concern.

“You’re in a heat,” he explained as though it wasn’t the most obvious thing in the world. “Levi’s not here; you need to get back to the sitters’ fortress or else you’ll be in deep trouble.” He pulled Eren and kept a tight grip on his shoulders.

“Let me go!” Eren shrieked, alarmed. This wasn’t Levi, his brain was yelling. No. Not Levi. New merman. Danger. Eren tried to tug his arm away from the gigantic blond, but Mike’s grip on him was harder than steel. Eren fought, gasping for breath as his energy suddenly seemed to vanish. He had to get away from this merman. He needed his mate. Only his mate was allowed to see him like this.

“Listen,” Mike said in an infuriatingly patient tone. “Levi has asked me to keep an eye on you, and if something happens to you, the little runt is gonna claw my face out, so can you just come with me?” He sighed. “I already have a beautiful and amazing mate. She’ll take care of you,” he added softly in hopes of calming the thrashing mermaid. “Nanaba will help. Another mermaid’s scent will calm you down,”

“NO!” Eren wailed. The pheromones he gave off were trying to dull his senses in order to prepare him for being mated and it filled him with a sense of warmth and relaxation. His instincts were telling him to just lay down and sleep, and his merman would come to him.

Eren was tempted to do so when the golden glow on his chest indicating the connection between his and Levi’s heart burned with a ferocity that was yet to be seen and Eren screamed as white-hot pain overtook him. The pain burned his dizziness away and reversed the effects of his pheromones. Somewhere in the back of his mind he could make out Mike’s concern, but the rest of him could make out only one thing:

Levi was in trouble.

Everything came cascading down on him like a pound of bricks dropped on his head: Uri, Erwin, his mother and father, _Levi…_

The burning in his chest worsened at Levi’s name and Eren yelped. By now, Mike had managed to understand that Eren wasn’t in a stupor of his heat, but something more alarming and he tried to scoop up Eren in his arms in order to get to his cave faster. Eren, realizing what Mike was doing, thrashed wilder and screamed.

“I NEED TO GO TO HIM!”

“Eren, he’s at the shore,” Mike sighed. “You’re not ok right now; it’s probably an after-effect of your heat or something, but it’ll be ok if you come with me,”

Eren knew very well it wasn’t a damn after-effect of his heat or some other bullshit. He was in pain because Levi was in pain and Levi needed _help._ He struggled and twisted, screamed and shouted but the stupid merman holding him back didn’t realize what was going on and insisted on getting him back to his cave with his mermaid Nanaba or whoever. Eren couldn’t care less.

In a fit of rage, he turned and sank his teeth straight into the merman’s forearm and that did the trick. Mike let out a strangled cry and he shoved Eren away. The burnet turned back, feeling guilty when he saw the deep puncture marks in Mike’s arm with blood freely running out of them, but there was no time to waste. Eren flicked his tail and he was off, zooming ahead as he tried to remember where exactly was the entrance to the community. In front of him were tall cliffs that had structures like honeycombs which he knew must be the caves of some mers.

Levi had brought him through a dark tunnel, Eren recalled, and then they had both tumbled over the edge of it and shot out of it like those rides at water amusement parks. Where was it? If Eren managed to get there, he could scale up, beyond the reach of any mer and leave.

A hand grabbed him out of nowhere and he turned around to see Mike livid. “What are you doing?!” he hissed. “You’re in heat! If you go near the caves, don’t you realize some merman might come after you?!”

“You have to help me, please!” Eren cupped his cheeks. “How do I get out of here?!”

“Eren, I’m taking you to my cave where –“

“I can’t! Levi needs me!”

“Levi is at the shore-

“And he needs my help! Please, take me out of here!”

Mike shook Eren by the shoulder. “You are not in your right mind. It’s the pheromones affecting you-“

“I am perfectly normal!” Eren cried hysterically, knowing full well he was the farthest thing from it. Strangely, the golden glow burned away his sluggishness and light-headedness of heat. The only sign left to see that he was in heat was the uncomfortable twisting of his gut. The glow burned steadily and miraculously kept Eren’s mind clear and focused.

“Eren calm down-“

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” Eren roared and slapped Mike with his tail. Before the merman could recover from this surprise attack, Eren had taken off. He zoomed in and out of seaweed, crystals, fishes, and rocks, scanning along the length of the giant cliff for a fissure from where he had first entered the community. His tail worked achingly behind him to propel him and Eren felt the stabbing in his muscle but neither minded or care. Levi was all that his mind chanted.

Eren suddenly stopped at a clearing: there were no seaweeds here and certainly no rocks or fishes. The area around him was completely blank save for the cliff wall he had followed which branched out to the right and continued ahead like a room wall. Eren realized with a jolt that he had arrived at Trost’s border.

Then that meant…

He looked directly above him.

On the face of the great cliff wall that shielded the mer community of Trost from the rest of the ocean stood a gaping hole so vast that Eren could have sworn it was a black hole. It was situated high above on the jagged and uneven, rough surface of the cliff. There were no honeycomb-like caves here. This was it. The entrance.

Or rather, the exit. The one from which Levi had brought him into the beautiful world of merfolk, the world he was stripped off of due to his birth, the world he had no access to because he wasn’t a part of it. The world he had no rights to belong to and had tried to stay away from for the better part of his life.

Levi had brought him here and Eren’s mind was a whirlpool of the mers he had gotten to know and cared for – Isabel, Armin, Mikasa and Hanji, all of them, they were his family. They had been among the first to accept him and give him a home.

And Levi… Levi was the one who had been there for him the most. Levi was the one who had spilled color into his black and white life. Levi was the one who made him feel wanted and at home.

_Levi was his home._

And Eren was determined to save his precious home.

“EREN STOP!” Mike’s thunderous roar called out from behind as Eren inhaled and bit his hand with all the force he could muster while one command was registered in his mind: _get to Levi_.

The pain was blinding, but he endured it. A little tingle began at the fins at the base of his multi-colored tail. Eren smiled at it, the process was so familiar to him – the golden tip of his tail began to crumble, followed by the green-blue of his fins. Then, one by one like dominoes, the green, golden and blue scales that decorated his appendage and was the culprit for having so many mermen chase him began to fall. All the scales fell like pebbles raining down until Eren floated in the water in front of a horrified Mike. Blood was seeping out of his tail, which was now nothing but long strips of muscle tightly woven together. The crimson of the life-fueling liquid merged with the oceanic blue and looked morbid around Eren.

Mike’s face was a painting of revulsion and terror. “Wha-"

With an ominous crack, Eren’s now bare tail split neatly into two. It parted right up to his groin and hot steam was instantly released. It hissed because Eren was in the water and he had only attempted this on land; the steam and water enveloped him in a thick foggy blanket that argued between gas and liquid. It was neither. The split muscles began to grow _skin._ Creamy, caramel skin covered the muscles and two rectangular shapes grew at the end with five bud-like outgrowths; Eren wrinkled his little toes and laughed.

Eren’s scent glands and gills were still present and so were the specks of colors decorating his collarbones and shoulders. The sides of his new appendages were littered with small and scattered green-blue scales. Eren kicked at the water, testing to see if he was still compatible and yelped happily as his long legs obeyed him.

Ignoring Mike, Eren trod the water and grabbed on to edges of the cliff. With a grunt, he began to climb, hoisting himself up and bending his limbs in awkward angles to avoid scratching himself when he suddenly realized that his behind was on full display for Mike. Eren blushed, even though he knew mers had absolutely no idea of what asses were, and continued climbing. He bit back a cry when a particularly sharp edge grazed his newly grown dick. Shit. That hurt.

He climbed higher and higher and the ocean threatened to push him down, but Eren had had enough of nature’s shit. He climbed because he knew going forward would be a big ‘fuck you’ to all those who had tried to push him down and the spite made him mad and lust for victory, to see the faces of all those scandalized by his survival. He wanted to punch Uri. He wanted to strangle Erwin. He also wanted to kiss Levi. Most of all, he wanted Mike to stop staring at his ass. He was a bundle of energy and nerves and couldn’t think straight.

Eren huffed and almost cried as he made it to the gaping hole. He pushed himself in and groaned again when he saw he had more climbing to do inside the tunnel itself. His legs quivered with a sort of nervous excitement, which was basically his adrenaline clicking in. His body was a mess of hormones right now but Eren pushed his hair back and turned back to spare one last glimpse at the community, the one place he had been welcomed to, even if it had been temporary.

Levi, Isabel, Armin, Mikasa, and Hanji – he wouldn’t fail them. Eren turned to the dark tunnel and set his leg on the edge, preparing to move ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I'm having preparatory exams right now and I haven't been able to get 5 seconds of sleep for three weeks and I'm so damn exhausted and thank you so much for reading this I LOVE YOU ALL <3


	25. Human, Siren and Mermaid

They had been swimming for hours now, scaled appendages doing their best to propel themselves forward. The marine life around them did not do much to interest Levi, but he continued nevertheless. He occasionally paused to check if the other three mers – Eld, Gunther and Oluo were keeping up, and surprisingly, they were. Not once had they complained of exhaustion.

Levi turned his mind to other thoughts. Strangely, his head was feeling better and his nosebleed had ceased, though he still felt the slight itches that made him want to rake his entire nose off. Levi’s colors were dull, the little specks of blue and indigo all across his collarbones and shoulders assuming a more grayish hue. Levi hadn’t been concerned at first, but now, he was starting to feel light pangs of fear. What was happening to him? Was this all a punishment for not finding a mate sooner? It couldn’t be.

Accounts of mers finding mates after a very long time since maturation was about as common as a shark eating seaweed; there had been only one other case of a mer who had managed to find a suitor after more than 20 years since maturing, and Levi wondered if they too had gone through what he was feeling now. It was true that mers could often lose themselves in the grief of not having a mate or losing one, but then… shouldn’t Isabel be undergoing something similar? Levi’s heart clenched – what if she had been and she just hadn’t told Levi?

But the last time Levi had visited her, she had seemed healthy and bubbly, like her usual happy self, not sickly. Unlike some creatures, a mer’s physical conditions were largely governed by their emotions. They could heal properly if they had a strong will to live, die if their mentality purged or descend to madness due to unrequited love. He had been there for her and stuck to her ever since Farlan had died; she had been so _young._  
Levi felt proud of Izzy – she had survived so much. It gave him another was another reason to bring this siren down and avenge Farlan.

Pointed ears flicked about as Levi individually maneuvered them in different directions. They were stretched out as far open as he could make them without straining them. He usually did this when on particularly dangerous scouting missions.

“Commander,” a voice carried to him. Levi twisted around to find Gunther close behind him. He was a large merman, skin dark due to the numerous times he had been sent to missions near the shore and hair darker. Levi blinked slowly to let him know that he was listening.

“I’ve never encountered a siren before,”

“Brilliant,” Levi muttered dryly.

Gunther looked sheepish as his tail swished faster to keep up with him. Levi was amused; he wasn’t even going that fast.

“So… do you know much about them?”

 _They smell worse than your three-days-old shit_. Levi was about to say so but stopped. Instead, he mused for a while and then said, “They are shape-shifters,”

“Shape-shifters?” Gunther asked nervously.

“Not actual shape-shifters, mind you.” Levi gazed at him. “They lure their prey by singing, which makes them appear as the object that their prey most desires. Basically, it’s some kind of illusion… they can’t actually change their form. That’s what most of us know.”

“So they just appear to look like something we want?” Eld spoke up. He and Oluo had now caught up with the other two and were curiously listening in. Levi grunted in affirmation.

Oluo scoffed. “I thought they were supposed to be dangerous. What are they gonna do, sing their petty throats off and think that we’ll fall for that bullshit?”

“Oluo,” Levi said calmly, “A siren’s songs are meant only to fool those who have the capacity to think. You won’t be in much danger,”

“Yeah, you’re our backup in case everything goes wrong,” Gunther slapped Oluo on the back while Eld chuckled softly.

Oluo furiously opened his mouth to retaliate but the only sound that he produced was a squelch and a shriek as he bit his tongue with his sharp canines. Gunther and Eld cackled, while Levi tried to suppress a smile. He felt marginally better and his thoughts strayed back to home, back to the brunet… what was his mermaid doing?

* * *

Panting like as though he had been forced to run around the world, he slumped out of the tunnel and tumbled into the water with as much grace as a drunken jellyfish. Eren squealed in delight at the cool touch of the water and shuddered a second later when it hit his cock. Kicking the water with his legs, he slowly steered through the horrible rocks guarding the entrance to the mer world, taking care not to let anything graze his sensitive parts. He felt uncomfortable in the weird positions his limbs were moving in and grumbled. If Levi were to see him now…

Once Eren was away from the cliffs and fully in the water, he turned back to see the entrance to the life he had been denied due to accident of birth – a long, continuous chain of cliffs, all bound together to create a gigantic wall with smaller rocks and boulders surrounding the front, which hid the diagonal gash that led him to the mer world. Eren felt bitter at the thought of never returning back to this wonderful place.  
Mike had seen his secret. The only reason he wasn’t here with the entire armada of troopers with him to kill Eren was because he likely thought that he had been dreaming, or was stationed on the other side with other troopers to prevent him from coming back. They couldn’t abandon the defense of Trost.

Maybe Mike hoped Levi would kill him. Or Eren would die out there at the hands of a shark.

Eren tried to control his tears as he bit his hand again to change back; his legs came together and at once they began to fuse and the flesh merged to form a single, long lump of muscle. He hissed in pain as scales began to grow over the muscle and his groin twisted uncomfortably to conceal the part of him that wasn’t required for a mermaid. Scales grew all over his behind, rapidly covering it; his member was pushed back and hidden behind a protective pouch which merged with his lower stomach and scales grew over it. He felt a series of jumps in his abdomen and a tingling sensation at his front which gave rise to a swollen line on the front of his tail: his clit.

Eren winced as another twinge of pain greeted him; he had bit his hand too hard and had continued biting for the rest of the transformation. It bore an angry red hue as blood spilled out from the ruptures his small canines had made. Eren bit his lip; it would heal later.

As much as he was confused by his own body more than anyone himself, Eren knew that the mixing of his parent’s genes wasn’t equal; he had at first believed himself to be half mer, half human, but that hadn’t been the case; his mother’s genes were more dominant, and so, Eren was more mermaid than a human, more ocean than the earth.

It was why his legs had small scales on the sides and webbing between his toes and fingers. It was also why he still retained his gills, scales of color over his shoulders, and pointed ears, along with his womb. The only changes that made him remotely human were legs and a cock.

Even then, he didn’t belong in the ocean any more than he belonged on land. He was only a mutant, a horrible accident. Many a time he had wondered how his mother had managed to give birth to him – she ought to have suffered a miscarriage and he should have died, which would have made things so much easier. But instead, he had to survive, grow up, and turn into this twisted creature.

Eren flicked his tail once to regain some feeling in it. It was beautiful, he had to admit; in spite of his fate, Eren loved his tail and it was the only thing he was fond of about himself.

He swam ahead, ears perked out and straining for unwanted company. It was impossible to tell the time being this deep in the ocean. All around him there was nothing but darkness; the ocean was deep and silent. There was no living creature nearby which should have struck him suspicious, but Levi had told him that not many creatures wandered about this close to the mer communities. Regardless, Eren forced his ears to stretch in individual directions, scanning for threats – a little trick Levi had taught him.

His eyes focused harder to seek any sign of life or something that would cause him harm. He had already swum a great deal away from the cliff wall and was now all alone, completely at the mercy of the ocean. There weren’t any caves or rocks for him to hide nearby. He had to hurry up, but also be slow; he couldn’t risk being attacked…

There was something missing, Eren realized. Why was his body so… so ok all of a sudden? Why wasn’t he in pain? He was forgetting something… what?

Then it came back to him: his _heat._ A hand immediately shot down to his clit and he found to his surprise there was no slick covering it. He sniffed at the water around him – there wasn’t a trace of his scent.

A happy thrum rose in his chest; maybe the sudden shifting into his other form had subdued his heat for the time being, but there was no telling when it would come back. Eren grinned, elated with these turn of events when he suddenly remembered something else: the glow.

He hurriedly looked down to his chest and sighed in relief. It was there, pulsating dully. He sighed and thanked Mother Nature. It meant Levi was still alive… and judging by the way how the glow didn’t burn him like how it did earlier, it meant Levi was fine and not hurt. The glow’s pulses kept up a steady rhythm and inflow of heavenly warmth into his body which was much needed.

Levi was alive… Levi was ok… he could still fix this.

Eren flapped his tail. With a powerful thrust, he propelled himself upwards like a rocket; he didn’t know how to get back to the shore from here because this wasn’t familiar territory, but he could emerge from the ocean and take a look at the sky and proceed from there. There was a surge of hope in him as he pushed upwards, hope so powerful that it managed to put away the thoughts of what he’d do if he managed to catch up with Levi and see him again.

_I can make it. I have to make it. I need to see you, I need to help you._

_I need to fix my mistake._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok I know you guys have some doubts regarding Eren’s body and here I am to clear it up:  
> He is more like 75% mermaid and 25% human. In his human form, he has legs, but his toes have small webbings between them and so do his fingers along with claws. The upper half of his body stays exactly the same, but the lower half changes: when his tail split into two parts to form his legs, the place between his thighs (where the dick is supposed to be) consists of smooth skin (like his titan form in the anime). The smooth skin is actually a pouch, from which his dick slides out once he changes into human form. He basically looks like Harry Potter from goblet of fire when Harry eats the gillyweed.  
> When he turns back into a mermaid, his legs join together and they stick together and it fuses (like in the ending of season 1 of the anime, when Eren defeated Annie but his titan form began to merge with hers). When the fusing takes place the protective pouch reappears and covers his dick and forms a smooth skin-like area in the place. Then scales begin to grow everywhere and fins and you have mer Eren.  
> But, since his mer genes are dominant, Eren still has a cloaca when he transforms into a human, i.e, his body anatomy is similar to those of omegas from A/B/O fics. He is called a hermaphrodite by Uri because he has both a clit and a penis.


	26. The Siren's Song

The silence in the ocean pressed on his ears as Eren waited behind a rock. He could hear something; his ears twitched as they tried hard to decipher the sounds. Eren focused on his surroundings, trying to understand.

Whatever was making the noise was clearly trying to get itself caught. It was slithering in between the reeds. Eren couldn’t make out what it was because the dense cover of marine vegetation concealed the creature. But judging by the sounds, it couldn’t be a particularly large creature. Maybe an eel or a small squid…

There was a sudden sound like a volcano grumbling before it erupted and Eren almost shot out of his hiding place in terror; he realized a second later that it was his stomach, angry that it hadn’t been fed. Eren looked towards the reeds. If there was something small like a squid, he could definitely catch it and eat. He had eaten nothing except for the fish Isabel had given him early that morning.

When Eren had breached the surface of the ocean for directions, it had been twilight. That was hours ago, but it was impossible to keep track of time here in the ocean. He supposed it was night now. Either way, his stomach demanded food and Eren mused it would be better if he filled it before tackling Levi.

He was scared though; what if it wasn’t a squid but something else? He couldn’t sit behind this rock and starve forever; he had to get to Levi, but if he attacked, then the creature could very well kill him if it wasn’t something small.

Eren gulped. Maybe if he died here, it would be better than facing Levi out there. The glow on his chest was still beating rhythmically, meaning Levi was well. So it meant Levi still hadn’t encountered the siren, and that Levi knew nothing about how Eren had lied to him. Or did he? He was smart… he would have connected the puzzle pieces together – Eren’s behavior, the way he had survived out alone at the shore for so long, why he was afraid of the mer community – his own heart beat madly, voicing out his fear. The energy rush he had gotten from changing into a human was now gone and his doubts were starting to sink in.

The more he waited, the more he realized how reckless and stupid he had been to just reveal himself to Mike like that. Hadn’t his mother taught him to conceal the very thing he had revealed? He had done so for many years, he had been so careful and cautious, but now…

Eren choked back bile. Levi probably didn’t know about his betrayal because if he had, then the glow would have burned angrily and caused him more pain than before. He felt pain back in Trost, meaning Levi too had been in pain; if Levi was angry with him, then Eren too would have felt Levi’s anger through their link. How in the seven seas was he supposed to explain himself? Levi had made him promise to not leave Trost, and here Eren was, crouching behind a rock feeling it would be better to rush into the jaws of whatever creature was behind those reeds.

_If you had got hurt when I wasn’t there then… I brought you here after all… you are my responsibility._

What would Levi say to him now?

Eren clenched his fist as tears welled up in his eyes. Levi wouldn’t just be angry; he’d be disappointed in him. He would lose his trust in Eren and never accept him the way he used to. And even if Eren did reach Levi and warn him in time, he wouldn’t be able to go back with him back to Trost. Levi wouldn’t let Eren stay back at the shore, and if he returned to Trost, he would find out the truth from Mike and then kill Eren himself. Or if he was merciful, he would just banish Eren to the shore, assuming Levi believed that he and Erwin didn’t work together to kill all those mers. Eren cringed at the thought; he would _never_ hurt any mer like that or team up with that brute.

His stomach twisted painfully and Eren decided to find out what lurked behind the reeds; he could tolerate hunger for only so long, years of experience had taught him. Eren floated away from his hiding place and slowly edged towards the cluster of weeds. The shuffling grew louder as the mermaid thickly swallowed. His hands trembled and his nostrils flared to detect any threatening scents. He got a blank response.

Eren curled up. He was quivering and took a deep breath, ready to flee should the need arise. His tail went rigid as Eren prepared himself.

He swatted the weed aside with his tail and at once, an enormous shoal shot out right at his face. Eren shrieked as he covered his face to protect himself from the wave of silver fishes darting past him. The poor things had been peacefully eating, but he had terrified them now and they were about to become prey to the starving mermaid. Eren removed his hands off his face and blindly spread his hands, trying to sink his claws into something and managed to grab four of the codfish. He swam away, giddy with victory and immediately sank his teeth into a fish, not waiting to strip its bones off.

When his stomach was satisfied, Eren waved his tail and swam faster than before, determined to catch up to Levi before he reached the shore. He was close; he was starting to recognize the pattern of rocks and the vegetation around this area. He knew he wasn’t far behind and it made him speed up.

* * *

Long distance scouting had taught Levi how to keep sleep and her mischief at bay. His eyes didn’t droop once and steely grey irises were sharp and narrow as he focused his vision. His ears were perfect as usual, never missing a single shuffle of fins or flap of tails. They had encountered many shoals of fish along the way and had stopped once or twice for eating.

Every now and then, he turned back to check on his companions. Eld was firmly awake, but he could see Gunther and Oluo struggling. They couldn’t rest out here, this far from the community and at night, at least not until they had found proper shelter.  Levi had breached the surface to find the sky as black as octopus ink. Stars decorated the sky in a series of strange patterns. Eren had told him once what they were, but he had forgotten the word for it. He yearned for Eren to be there with him so that the mermaid could explain the various patterns. He missed the brunet and his excited trilling dearly and wished for the millionth time to be back in his cave with his tail snugly wrapped up around his precious mermaid and soaking in their combined scents. Levi sighed instead and concentrated on the task at hand; like he had told himself a million times before, the faster he finished this, the faster he could reunite with Eren.

He continued flapping his tail in slow, sweeping motions and once again conducted inventory on the surroundings.

This was unfamiliar territory. There were corals of vivid colors and varying shapes along with reeds, seaweed, and rocks, and his sharp eyes managed to coax out small entrances to caves as well. The vegetation was getting thicker and that was how Levi could understand that they were reaching closer to the shore. His senses were more alert now than ever and he silently thanked the ocean for having subdued his nosebleed from earlier.

“Commander?” Gunther’s weary voice cut through the water. “How much farther?”

Levi stopped and turned back. Oluo looked like he was on the verge of death but Levi was sure that he was just dozing off (his face made him look that way). Gunther and Eld were more awake, but tired too.

“There are caves here. We can rest for some time, but have to take turns keeping watch.” Levi said curtly and they nodded in reply. At once, Eld immediately separated himself from the group as he scouted around, looking for a safe cave for them to curl up in for the night. Levi suddenly realized that he had done the right thing to bring only three mers alongside with him – how would they be able to shelter an entire army of troopers this far out? Not to mention so many scents… a stealth attack would have been almost impossible.  

Eld rejoined them quickly, tired but smiling. “I found a small cave. It’s safe and concealed by weeds. We can sleep there for the night.”

Levi flexed his claws. “I’ll take first watch.”

* * *

The cave was cramped with four heavily-built mermen flanking it. While the others slumbered, Levi sat on the edge of the cave, hands idly toying with the seaweed outside. For amusement, he had scared a little clownfish off; now he felt more bored than ever.

He had planned on letting them sleep for a while longer but instead had ended up keeping watch for the entire night. When he had left the cave for a few quick seconds to breach the ocean and seek time, the sky had a light pink blush smeared across it. It was early light, and Levi stretched with a grunt.

They could move slowly now; they had plenty of time between sunrise to sunset to bring down the siren.

And he could go home to Eren…

Giddy thoughts filled Levi, the way it always does when you’re that close to _finally_ finishing something you didn’t want to start in the first place. How should he greet Eren? Surprise him from behind? Scare him? Should he bring some seashells from the shore as a claiming gift? What was Eren doing now? Had someone tried to court him (Levi hastily bit back a growl at the last thought)? He wanted to feel his hands on Eren’s smooth skin again and kiss him until the end of time.

Once he returned, he would be able to court Eren freely… and finally, claim him. And then they could…

 A big, dopey grin spread across his face and he quickly shoved his face into his tail. Why the fuck was he acting like this? Why did a single mermaid make him feel this way?

He sighed. _If only you knew how you made me feel… Mother Nature, I beseech you, don’t take him away from me._

“Commander.”

Levi turned back quickly, trying to control his red cheeks and maintain some dignity. “What?” he muttered as he faced a sheepish Eld. Gunther and Oluo were still fast asleep.

“Sorry… we overslept and you had to keep watch alone,” he mumbled.

Levi waved off the apology nonchalantly, his head filled with feverish fantasies. “Keep an eye on the other two and make sure they don’t get stung by jellyfishes. I’ll scout the area ahead,” he ordered and at Eld’s nod, swam out of the cave.

The surroundings were bright and alive with life. Levi’s ears detected a wide variety of sounds, mostly small fish, but he shrugged them off for none were particularly threatening. He skimmed the place, trying to detect any signs of danger. There were boulders and small hills of corals and seaweeds, while crabs scuttled about on their funny little legs. Levi kept up a steady rhythm of swishing his tail so that the critters didn’t get anywhere near him. A squid was lodged on a branch of coral and it turned its big eyes on Levi. The merman barred his teeth at its stupid face and ducked a second later as some sort of liquid came shooting out of it at great velocity. Levi moved away from it; he hated squids. He continued his survey when his breath suddenly stopped.

A turquoise tail.

Levi’s heart hammered wildly in his chest and the blood in his veins surged madly to every part of his body. His breathing hitched up alarmingly as he narrowed his eyes at the rock behind which the tail had disappeared. Fish flanked about and weeds floated, while every part of him stood alert and tense.

_Calm down. It’s not him_

His brain was screaming; he knew that tail very well – how could he not? There was only one mermaid who had that pristine viridian tail, with fins of blue and golden. The tail of the mermaid he loved, but how?!

It had to be a trick of the light; he was tried from keeping watch for so long; maybe it was another one of his stupid fantasies. He really needed to get back to Eren and kiss him, which he couldn’t do if he continued floating there staring at a rock.

“Ouch!” yelped a voice, followed by curses muttered under its breath and the fear in Levi’s chest turned into terror. The blood rushed out of his face as his ears flicked madly and tail swished aggressively.

_No._

_He was safe. He was back home._

_He promised to stay back._

_He promised not to leave._

As though in a daze, Levi swam forward slowly, his body moving of its own accord. His eyes were wide and his gills forced the air into his blood for breathing. Moving past the shoals of fish and crabs, he extended his claws out and peered behind the rock, hoping that it was a dream, that it was a terrible nightmare and he would wake up screaming –

Eren floated about, in the middle of a school of clownfish, sucking on his thumb with an expression of absolute annoyance. Levi had never seen a mermaid more _beautiful_ or alluring in his life before as he took in the sight of his chosen mate; it was a drunken dream. Eren’s tail glowed brightly in the ocean blue and so did his skin kissed by the sun. It struck Levi how young he was. His hair floated in rivulets while the little orange fish mistook it for seaweed and tried to eat it. Eren swatted his hand at them and groaned; he floated away from them and turned around, freezing abruptly in place when he locked eyes with the merman.

They both stared at each other for what felt like ages, surrounded by fish and corals. Eren’s irises gleamed brightly, reflecting the ocean in them as his lips parted in surprise. His chest wasn’t moving, like as though he was afraid to breathe and Levi realized he wasn’t breathing either. Eren’s eyes grew glassy and moist.

“Levi?” he whispered, stumbling forward and extending out a hand. It slowly made contact with his cheek and he felt the gentle caress.

“You’re here,” Levi choked the words out.

Eren broke down at once and the scent of distress filled Levi’s nostrils as he slammed into his chest, crying hysterically. Levi unleashed his own dominant scent to soothe and calm his mermaid down. A part of him tried to reason out as to why Eren was here and more importantly, how he had managed to get over here, this far from Trost, that too when Mike was guarding the community. But he put aside all of these questions; his mermaid was in pain and Levi concentrated on heightening the soothing effect of his scent as he hugged Eren back. Oh, he had _missed_ this sorely…

“How did you get here?!” he firmly gripped Eren’s shoulders and shook him. Eren looked up, eyes still wet. “I managed to escape,”

“Escape Mike?!” Levi laughed, trying to hide his hysteria. His panic was slowly rising up. “Eren, how the actual fuck did you escape _Mike_?”

“He’s not that fast,” Eren mumbled. “I had to see you,”

“Why?!” Levi shook him more roughly than he intended. “I told you I would come back!”

“I know, but-“

“Eren, this place is not safe for you!”

“Levi, I-“

“How did you get here?”

“I swam away from the mer community and swam the entire night,”

“You _WHAT?!”_ Levi roared and Eren shrank down a bit. Fear had burned away to give rise to anger and Levi was livid; had Eren taken leave of his senses?! Had he actually swum all the way from fucking Trost till here?! What if he had been hurt, what if he had encountered some monstrosity, what if – an endless stream of horrible scenarios played in his head, each more gruesome than the last. The ocean was not a force to be toyed with, and Eren had the audacity to swim all alone, without any fucking protection, to all the way out here, when he was perfectly safe in the community with Mikasa and Hanji.

He couldn’t care less how strong or free-spirited Eren was; there were limits to everything and Eren had crossed his. Levi swelled in anger, glaring at the mermaid in fury and growled menacingly at him.

“You could _have died,_ ” he hissed venomously. “How dare you, how the actual fuck – _why_ did you, no, _who told you to leave_?!”

“I-“ Eren squeaked but cowered as Levi growled at him again and silenced him.

“The ocean and the shore are two _completely different_ places Eren!” his outburst had scared all the fish and marine life away from them. The other three mermen must have woken up by now by his shouts and the rage in his scent, but all Levi cared was about the mermaid he held in his arms; Eren tried to get away from him and gave a frantic squeak which grounded Levi. He couldn’t scare him; they were in the middle of nowhere and vulnerable to an attack.

“Eren,” Levi spoke his name through clenched teeth, trying to calm himself down. No, he had to get Eren to safety, back to the cave and talk things through with him. Eren was sniffling, looking up at Levi with big, scared eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he sobbed. It pained Levi to hear the anguish in his voice, and he knew he was at fault for yelling at him, but Eren deserved it. He needed to be reprimanded, for his own safety. Levi’s emotions were a whirlpool as he tried to subdue the waves of fear, relief, pain, and anger and revert back to his stoic self. He took deep breaths and gently clicked his tongue to gain Eren’s attention and placed a small kiss on his forehead when he looked up.

“Eren, listen,” Levi pulled him up higher, noting suddenly how heavy he was. He wiped away Eren’s tears and firmly held his gaze. “Listen to me. What you did was incredibly reckless, and stupid, but I’m taking you to a safe place now, alright? Do you understand me?” he asked and Eren nodded at once.

“Ok. We’ll sit and talk more there, fine? Eren, I’m very _very_ angry with you right now. You shouldn’t have… I told you to wait…what made you come out all the way _here_?!”  
He pulled Eren along with him, not releasing him from their embrace. He heard muffled sobs and his chest twisted but he tried to soothe Eren with another douse of pheromones. Eren clung to him tightly, not letting him move.

 _“_ Eren, we need to get back to that cave.” Levi urged.

Eren nodded, hugging him more tightly. “I… Just a few more seconds, please? This feels good, Levi.” He sniffled. Levi sighed and closed his eyes as he leaned in and pressed his lips to the top of Eren’s head.

“Come on, you’ll feel better there.” He rubbed his neck over Eren's head.

_There is a barbarian prowling around over there, slaughtering mermen and you expect me to let you, a mermaid, go to the shore undefended? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?_

MAYBE _I AM! IF YOU WON'T LET ME GO TO THE SHORE LEVI, I SWEAR I WILL LEAVE THIS VILLAGE AND GO THERE MYSELF!_

Their argument back in Isabel's cave... had Eren really meant those words? But why? Why was he so desperate? There was something wrong with his mermaid, and Levi had to find out. Eren wasn't a complete idiot; he would have known the consequences of leaving Trost, and that meant only one thing: he had something grave to tell Levi. There was no other reason for Eren to leave the safety and comfort of the community and venture out in the ocean alone. They had to talk.

As he held onto Eren’s petite body, Levi felt the roughness of his skin and went rigid. What happened? Had Eren grazed himself somewhere? Was he in pain? Swimming for such a long distance definitely wouldn’t have been healthy for him as he slouched in Levi’s embrace. Levi grunted as he struggled to hold Eren up.  
His nose immediately scrunched up automatically as a potent scent hit him; it wasn’t a scent, more of a stench. It _reeked,_ worse than decaying fish and harbored malevolence. Levi gagged. He had never smelled something this _disgusting_ before. Was Eren alright?  
A scream filled the ocean a second later; Levi realized with horror that _he_ was the one who had screamed and his back was throbbing; sharp claws slashed at his back again and Levi knew blood had been drawn. He pulled away from Eren in confusion and terror to find two icy blue irises looking into his own stormy greys.

The siren barred its canines, ready to strike Levi’s gills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA I'm gonna sleep now


	27. Dance of the mers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ehhh after 123 years, I'm back. Take out yer maracas, Erwin and Levi are gonna have a dance off  
> 

The merman reacted at once.

Levi’s fins blared out in all their serrated glory, which startled the siren. With a powerful swat from his tail, Levi propelled himself backward, away from the siren’s clutches. His claws instinctively reached for his gills, checking for any critical injuries; but thankfully they were unscathed. Levi’s back though, throbbed and burned – the siren had got him there.

Tails rapidly flicked backward and forward, a sign of aggression. Fierce grey orbs latched onto to cool and calculating blues, the potent venom and aggravated pheromones released by both creatures succeeding in driving out all other marine life out of the waters. A malevolent growl rose out of Levi’s throat which seemed to amuse the siren.

“ _You_.”

“I figured we would cross paths sooner or later,”

“You are a siren?” Levi narrowed his eyes as he studied the blonde, quickly trying to detect a trace of vulnerability. A rumble of satisfaction reverberated in his chest as his eyes fell on the partially healed scars and gashes over his chest and arms, a parting gift from their last encounter. “Your scent didn’t tell me otherwise when we first met,”

If Erwin understood what Levi was trying to do, he was adept at hiding it. “I am a siren. I can alter certain aspects of my form to hide my true nature.” 

“That you did. You murdered the mers who wandered to the shore,” Levi growled again, stating it as a fact than an accusation. “Tell me, did you enjoy tearing them apart? Watching the life leave their eyes as you killed them?” he hissed through clenched teeth.

The effect he was hoping to have was for the siren to react and succumb to anger, but his words failed to bring that outcome; Erwin continued to hide behind his mask of indifference. “I did not find pleasure in it,” He admitted tonelessly. “I merely did what my instincts told me to,”

“And what was that?”

“Protect Eren,”

Levi’s scent turned into _rage._ His tail thrashed wildly at the mention of the mermaid and his claws jerked, itching to rip the siren to pieces; this creature didn’t have _any_ rights whatsoever to be anywhere near his mermaid – but no. He had to wait. He couldn’t rush in, no matter how much his instincts told him to abandon this small talk and draw blood. The waters around them were completely light, Levi observed quickly, meaning it was day. And yet Erwin didn’t show any signs of fatigue. There was nothing about save for corals growing on rocks and mounds of earth. Not even stones sharp enough to be used as a weapon; the only way to fight was through claws, teeth, and fins.  
Erwin did not attempt to further harm Levi. He floated eerily, a slight frown creasing his monstrous brows. Levi’s nostrils flared as he tried to detect the siren’s scent, but the potent reek was no longer staining the ocean; his scent had completely shut down as well. Levi’s eyes twitched as his body vibrated with energy and bloodlust. What was the siren playing at?

“How long have you known Eren?” he asked, hoping to stall him and gain some insight into the siren’s next move. Erwin had killed more than two hundred of the strongest troopers, all alone. He had even lured Levi into his trap. He was strong and damn clever.

“Before he was even born,”

Levi went numb. “Before he was-?”

“I was assigned to watch over him. Protect him. And when he came of age, claim him as a mate and knot him. I couldn’t do that because he wouldn’t let me. I tried to give him his space but found it difficult to control him. Then I had to deal with all those irksome mermen, trying to court him in hopes of marking him as theirs,” said Erwin, the scorn evident in his voice. “After that, _you-”_ Erwin’s eyes flashed with contempt, “- came along and took him away,”

Levi clenched his fist. “He’s right where he ought to be. He is better off in the community than here with a fucking clam like you for company,”

“Is that so?” Erwin sneered. “You know what he is, and still think he belongs there?”

Levi blinked. “He’s a mermaid; of course he belongs at the community!”

For the first time, Erwin dropped his guard and his brows shot up in surprise. He stared at Levi before his features twisted into a leer. “You _don’t_ know?” He cried, almost gleefully. “You don’t know what he is? And you plan on claiming him, marking him and mating with _him_?” Erwin threw his head back and laughed.  
  
His laugh sent Levi’s stomach plunging into the icy depths of the ocean – what did he mean? What was he talking about?

“No wonder you haven’t killed him yet… I can spare you the unnecessary misery,”

Levi stopped swishing his tail and let it hang limply. “What… what do you mean?”

“Consider it a mutual agreement,” Erwin’s tone changed, taking on more coldness that made Levi’s fins jerk uncomfortably. “You want these killings to stop. I don’t want to kill any more mermen either.”

“Forgive me, but I find that anything but a ‘mutual’ agreement,” Levi barred his teeth. “I want these killings to stop by pulverizing the fucking shit face who started it,”

“Eren is more of a threat than I ever will be,”

“I can see what you mean,” Levi replied dryly. “I’m terrified – he has already seduced me. If I’m not careful, I might be cuddled in my sleep,"

“Eren is more of a threat than I ever will be,” Erwin repeated. “I’ll stop killing the mermen. In exchange, hand Eren over to me and order your mermen to stay away from the shore. Simple as that.”

It was Levi’s turn to look surprised. “Sirens are supposed to be intelligent creatures. Did your parents have a tragic accident in the middle of the act? What makes you think I’ll hand Eren over?”

“You are the best mer warrior, I’ve heard,” Erwin drawled. “Surely you care more about the lives of all the merfolk that exist in your little communities than one single mermaid who doesn’t even know how to properly function in society,”

“I don’t get your point.”

Erwin rolled his eyes. “Give me Eren. I won’t bother you anymore. Eren is an abomination to your species, and the farther he is away from you and your precious merfolk, the better it is for all of you. You don’t understand the dangers of having him amongst you,”

Levi’s ears twitched and he spread them out, searching. He strained hard, listening to the ocean. Was it a fish? Or were there more sirens nearby?

“Merman,” Erwin tried to get his attention back. “What do you propose?”

Levi tilted his head, considering the siren. He was built heavily with a powerful tail – but there weren’t any scales on them; he didn’t have scales of colors on his shoulders and Levi couldn’t locate his gills either; were they hidden somewhere, unlike mers who had theirs out in the open on their necks? His tail had a strange sort of… mossy texture that resembled a bird’s feathers. He had small fins running along the length of his arms but not his back. That was an advantage Levi had over Erwin – he had fins down his spine as well, and they were bigger and sharper. Both creatures had jagged canines and horrible, steely talons. Erwin’s ears were small and curled; Levi’s were pointed and triangular. The only assets Erwin had were his tail and size… and his singing.

Levi hesitated – he hadn’t been able to resist his tune before… could he now?

He shook his head; Eren wasn’t here now. He was the only one who could tempt Levi. Erwin wouldn’t be able to pull the same trick on him twice. Levi tensed up again, ears flattened to the sides of his head and coiled up his tail. His fins stood out ready and blood pounded over his small but lithe form as claws and fins both shook with repressed energy. He didn’t know what this siren’s weakness was – they had assumed it had to be daylight, but that was obviously incorrect. If that was the case, Levi could simply carve him to bits. Erwin had already established his healing powers were not as superior as those of merfolk.

Levi swished his tail and his scent turned feral. Erwin’s posture went rigid, his whole body stiffening. “Merman, are you turning me down?” he asked silkily. “Is one mermaid more important to you than the lives of thousands of mermen, mermaids, and their stupid little pups?”

“I don’t see how one mermaid is capable of creating the chaos that you and your sinful eyebrows have. Every mers’ life is important to me. That _includes_ Eren,”

“So you mean to say-“

Erwin didn’t have the time to respond; or rather, Levi didn’t give him. Steely talons dragged themselves through the siren’s huge chest and Levi’s nose wrinkled immediately as the foul reek of siren blood burst out to mingle with the ocean. Erwin howled in pain and twisted, livid. Levi had made up his mind – he’d rather die taking down this siren than live to see Eren become his. The thought of Erwin’s burly hands and tail wrapping about Eren _boiled_ his insides and filled him with a fit of rage that he had never experienced before; Levi surrendered to his instincts completely, thrusting forward.

Both creatures of the ocean clashed together, tail on tail, fins against fins. Rippled indigo fought against icy blue. Levi was small but fast; he twisted and turned, using the fins at the end of his tail to maim Erwin’s sides and chest. Erwin, overcoming his initial shock, reacted with equal vigor and used his tail to wrap it around Levi’s; he gave a harsh tug which sent Levi slamming into the coral bed, further worsening the gash in the merman’s back. Not wasting a second, Erwin launched himself at Levi with devastating speed for such a huge siren and brought his talons out, grazing Levi’s bicep with deadly precision that would have otherwise severed his neck completely, if Levi hadn’t raised his arm up first.

Levi extended his fins and whirled, ripping open a deep slit in Erwin’s chest. Every time Erwin tried to get at him with his claws or tail, Levi spun out of the way, his long fins mutilating the siren. He acted as a whirlpool, using the water and his powerful tail fins to his favor. Erwin roared, aggravated by Levi’s new tactic that didn’t let him get anywhere close to the merman. He tried and tried to break the flow, but Levi was too fast for him. Erwin retreated with a fresh set of cuts and bruises after every attempt to slice the merman. Soon, he was struggling for breath and faltering under his wounds: his tail was grazed and fins were chopped off. The ocean stank, the foul stench of siren blood penetrating every nook and corner. His chest was a mangled mess of flesh and so were his arms and back. Without the protection of additional fins along his spine, Levi hadn’t spared that either, gouging open a deep cut in the siren’s back.

Levi quivered with the adrenaline rush that only a battle like this could bring; his pupils were dilated completely leaving only a ring of grey. His tail whipped back and forth, warning the siren not to come closer. But the merman had taken major tolls on his body as well; blood flowed continuously from his torn bicep and stained the corals; his back had been cut open by Erwin’s first blow, and bruises were rapidly darkening on his chest and cheeks. Levi’s tail was completely unharmed, but the same couldn’t be said for his tail fins – one of them had their corners brutally torn. Adrenaline couldn’t supply Levi with stamina and he could feel himself wearing out; the siren kept aiming for his gills which were a pain to defend because it left his other parts exposed. And Levi was nowhere closer to exposing the siren’s vulnerable part. Daylight clearly wasn’t the answer; what was his weakness then? Sirens were creatures of deceit that lured people and mers by calling out to them with their chicanery voices. Levi couldn’t see a set of gills anywhere on Erwin either. He ground his teeth in frustration.

“Merman,” Erwin panted, clutching his bleeding side. “You don’t have to do this. Give me Eren, and you can go in peace,”

“Fuck you and your peace. I’ll take my peace myself!”

Erwin closed his eyes, gripping his bloodstained claws harder. He spluttered and coughed out blood, breathing in sharp gasps. He was considerably weakened. Levi could kill him in a single stroke and end this.  
He moved forward but a strangled cry rose from his mouth. Levi halted, hand shooting upwards to his back. Running a finger up his spine, his stomach sank: his fins refused to come out, stuck amidst the semi-healed flesh and coagulated blood. His spine was left unprotected now and his instincts screamed at him to heal himself before he progressed with the fight. In repressed fury, he turned to the siren who had curled up among the corals.  
  
_Fuck you_.

Levi raised his claws. He would finish him. He would end him now.  
The merman hurled himself towards the siren, tail and talons wide, poised to strike at the undefended creature.

In a flash, Levi’s world turned completely upside down and he screamed; his face _burned_ and agony blared out, his scent reciprocating it in all directions. Levi was pushed into the coral bed as Erwin’s bulky figure loomed over him, leering triumphantly. He pressed Levi down harder, pinning his arms and tail with his own. Levi struggled and his breath vanished the next second as his stomach – a very sensitive part when it came to merfolk – was punched. Erwin used his elbow to deliver more blows to the merman’s front until Levi laid limp and immobile, claws twitching from the pain. His face was bleeding, dripping red into his mouth.

His surroundings were hazy and distorted. Levi’s ears strained – he could hear the swishing of tails and scraping of fins, but it meant nothing to him. He tried to twist to his side, but fire bubbled up his chest and Levi bit his lip hard to stop screaming out loud. His tail thrashed wildly but was immediately restricted. The pain forced his eyes to shut and body to go numb, leaving only his nose and ears working.

“Merman, I warned you. I warned you what would happen if you cross paths with me,” Erwin’s smug voice boomed above him. “You were already weak from torturing your body by not sating its primary desires. Now, you get to pay the price,” A claw slithered up to his gills, pressing on the tender area.  
Levi made a gurgling noise in desperation, unable to move or see. He could only smell lilies. The beautiful scent of water lilies… and… fresh earth.

 _Eren_ , he tried to say, yearning to see his beautiful eyes again. _Eren, I’m so sorry._

Levi gasped; the heavy weight atop him vanished at once, like mist dissipating off the ocean’s surface.  Air returned into his chest in full force as his front lifted, gills working furiously to revive his numb tissues. His tail jerked him upwards so that he could sit. Levi’s hands automatically reached for his gills; Erwin had missed for the second time – but why?

A scent boasting of lilies and fresh earth pummeled into his nose and sent him stumbling backward, head about to hit a jagged rock on which a pink coral grew. But before the rock could crack his skull open, his head made contact with the softest thing he had ever felt; warmth flooded him at once and at the same time, stinging in his chest overwhelmed him. His chest was burning… but he couldn’t feel the pain. In fact, his entire body burned in a fuzzy manner and his flesh seemed to pull themselves taut over his bones. Levi groaned as his muscles jumped and skin prickled. Then the sensation disappeared, replaced by a pool of heat right above his heart. His claws twitched and his spinal fins jutted out abruptly. His tail flapped, fins sharp and his hearing magnified to ten times what they had been seconds ago. Feral growls echoed throughout the ocean, not one, but _four_ , Levi’s ears told him. The scent of the ocean was lost completely in a rain of blood, but that beautiful fragrance of lilies kept wafting back into his nose, soothing his aching body and steadying his breathing. Levi wrenched his eyes open.

The ocean blinked at him and he blinked back, verklempt.

“Levi,” Eren breathed, tears welling up his eyes. He was the most beautiful sight Levi had ever had the fortune to witness. The merman in him roared with joy, for he knew at once this was Eren, _his_ Eren and nobody else; how could he have been so stupid to fall into Erwin’s trap? His illusion of Eren seemed downright hideous now. Eren’s eyes glowed and his pure and untainted scent wrapped around Levi, encasing them in their own little bubble. Without pausing to think, Levi tugged him forward, squeezing him. Eren’s one hand remained to support Levi’s head.  
“What – how?” Levi croaked.

“I’m so sorry! But I had to come and find you to warn you about the siren – well I don’t have to anymore because you found out, evidently, but oh! Please don’t be angry, I ran away from Trost to find you and I scratched Mike like a cat on steroids –"

Levi jammed their mouths together, a hungry growl rumbling in his chest. Eren squeaked but gave in. He clashed his teeth with the mermaid’s, kissing sloppily and devouring his lips. His canines sunk into the delicate flesh that was Eren’s lower lip and gnawed on it, drawing more protests from Eren. The brunet squirmed and struggled, his little claws digging into Levi’s shoulder for purchase.

Eren tried to put some distance between them. “Levi, listen!” he cried shrilly, his scent turning to distress. That prompted Levi to look up at once, confused. “Erwin is still here!” Eren pointed behind him.

Erwin was hissing and spitting madly while being simultaneously bombarded by Oluo, Eld and Gunther. All three mermen had their fins and claws drawn out and attacked him from three different directions while the siren fought head-on, desperation apparent in his strikes. He had been weakened by Levi’s blows; deprived of stamina and unable to heal, Erwin grunted in agony, bulky arms trying to drive off the mermen like as though they were a bunch of annoying clownfish. Yet the three held their guard, hissing back and slashing at him with their claws.

“I encountered them when I came this way,” Eren panted. “They were looking for you Levi; they told me that you all had stopped to rest in a cave, but had disappeared at first light.” He furrowed his brows in anger. “Did you think about confronting Erwin by yourself?”

“I got distracted… by his singing,”

Eren’s eyes widened in surprise. “He got you too? What did he make you see?”

“You. I saw you.”

A light blush stained Eren’s cheeks. Levi’s arms irked forward to grab the mermaid and let his lips claim every inch of Eren’s face, but he was denied the opportunity. “Levi, why haven’t you killed him yet?” Eren asked urgently, pushing the merman’s arms away. “You had no trouble defeating him the first time, why not now?”

Levi swallowed. “I… I was tired. I ran out of strength,”

“But why didn’t you aim for his weakness?”

“I don’t know where that is…” Levi admitted. Eren stared at him.

“What?”

“You tried to go after a siren _without knowing its weakness_?!”

Levi put his hands up in defense. “I _do_ know about his weakness: sunlight. But that didn’t work,”

Eren’s mouth dropped open. “Who told you _that_?”

“…Hanji. She said that for so many mers to have died, it could have only happened during the night when we are not that active.” Levi explained, remembering how Hanji had put forward her argument. He had never once doubted her claims and intelligence and naturally had assumed this one would turn out to be true as well. She had a knack for predicting things that turned out to be true. “So, she guessed that the siren must have killed them during the dark when it was at its peak strength… and rested during the day,” Levi concluded.

Eren shook his head. “Daylight is not a siren’s weakness, Levi,” Eren cupped his face and turned him towards the raging mers and the equally angry siren, fighting in the distance. “What does he look like to you?”

“Er… he looks a bit like us mers. But his tail is not scaly and I can’t find his gills anywhere,”

“How does his face look like?”

Levi glanced at him again before answering, “Hideous,”

“Really? He’s beautiful to me,”

Levi whipped around to look at Eren so fast, his neck almost came off. His heart pounded wildly as Eren stared back, remorse flooding his eyes. “What?” Levi whispered, hardly daring to believe it. No, Erwin was the most disgusting and sick creature he had come across. What beauty did Eren see in him?

“He has always looked beautiful to me Levi,” Eren looked down. “Ever since I first saw him, because I wanted someone to… someone to be with. He sang for me and I went to him and obviously, I saw him as a perfect, kind and strong merman who’d be good to me and always stay with me. That wasn’t how he turned out. Even now, some part of me hopes for his redemption, but I know that what he did was unforgivable and I am ready to kill him myself.”

“Eren…”

“He looks completely different to Eld, Oluo and Gunther too. Each one of them sees him in their own perspective. Even I don’t know what Erwin’s true face looks like – one that isn’t doused in an illusion,”

“What… what are you getting at?”

Eren looked back, his green eyes fierce. “There are two ways to kill a siren – one isn’t possible right now, because we need to stab him with a dagger made of copper and we’re in the middle of the fucking ocean. We also need the blood of someone who had been turned into a siren by him, but as far as I know, Erwin hasn’t turned any merman into a siren. He just deposed them off in cold blood,”

“What’s the other way?”

Eren inhaled. “Nobody knows what the true face of a siren looks like, save for itself. Show Erwin his reflection; he’ll see him for what he really is and die. Until then, no matter how many wounds he gains, he’ll never collapse,”

“Reflection? How do we do that?”

“We need a mirror,” Eren bit his lip. “And I brought one,”

Levi jumped up at once. “Give it to me,” he extended his hand out, expectantly looking at Eren. The brunet stopped, hesitation fogging his eyes, but then the fog cleared away to be replaced by firm determination. Eren produced something shiny from his closed palm and gave it to Levi, who squinted at it.

It was a clear crystal.

“I found this on my way here; thought it might be useful. It's translucent, so I think he'll be able to see himself in it," 

“I just have to shove this up his nose right?”

“No!” Eren cried in alarm. “Just show it to-”

Levi yanked him and cut him off by claiming his mouth. He nipped at Eren’s lips again and parted, grinning. “I know. And I’m not done yet,” he promised him. “After I’m finished with Erwin, you have a lot of explaining to do.”

Eren visibly flinched at his words, cowering down. Levi didn’t ponder long to think about his actions, simply putting it aside as a show of guilt for leaving the community. Anger built up in him again, but now that Eren was actually here in flesh and blood, Levi found it hard to be cross at his mermaid. He turned his attention back to Erwin, who had miraculously managed to hold on and not lose, even with three mermen attacking him. In fact, it was Oluo, Eld and Gunther who looked worse for the wear, each sporting a cut lip, several gashes along their torso and biceps and scars over their fins. Erwin growled; his face was a bloodied pulp of flesh.

“Siren,”

All four creatures froze. Eight pairs of eyes immediately turned upon Levi. Erwin started, but his mouth dropped open as he stared behind Levi and caught sight of Eren curled up among the coral bed. He stared and Levi’s instincts raged again for letting him look at his mermaid, but they were suppressed immediately after when he saw something foreign swallow Erwin’s cold blue orbs. When his and Eren’s eyes locked together, there was a strange emotion held by both of them, tying them together.

Erwin looked… he looked _sorry._ And so did Eren.

It was gone at once, replaced by his usual calculative mask. “Merman, are you reconsidering my offer?”

“I believe so,”

Erwin smiled; it was a grim satisfied smile and made Levi’s insides crawl. “I won’t disturb the community anymore. You have my word,” he swore with a curt nod to Levi. “Eren…” he called out. “Come to me,”

“Before I hand him over though,” Levi interrupted, fixing Eren with a stern stare to motion him to stay back in his place, “I have another demand,”

Erwin didn’t pay him any heed, eyes solely trained on the mermaid. “As long as I get Eren, I will agree to your terms,”

Levi swam forward to meet Erwin. Up close, his condition almost evoked pity from the merman. He was bleeding in a dozen places and his face was a cluster of purple bruises. He was exhausted, anyone could tell – it was taking a hell lot of effort to even open his eyes. Levi held out his hand, the crystal sitting innocently on his palm.

“What’s this?” Erwin asked with a frown, taking it from Levi and examining it. “This–”

A blood-curdling scream left his throat; the siren stumbled backward, tail writhing in anguish as scream after scream dribbled off his mouth. Levi dashed back to Eren at once whose face was twisted into terror; he wrapped around the mermaid and pulled him close, washing Eren in his scent to help him. The other three mermen scrambled away as well, getting as far away as they could from the scene.  
Blood erupted from every vessel of the siren's body – his eyes rolled up back in their sockets and popped out with a squelch and vaporized at once in the water in brisk effervescence; boils bubbled on the surface of his skin and they all burst with crimson liquid that _reeked_ worse than anything.  
Levi rubbed his neck over Eren’s face, cocooning him tightly.

Erwin’s flesh fell apart at the seams, revealing layers of muscle underneath; but that too didn’t remain for long and dissipated into the water. A final sizzling noise echoed as his tail evaporated in fits of bubbles that hissed and cracked. Levi waited; then stretched his ears out, straining for some sort of noise that could expose a threat. He was met with none.

The ocean lay silent once again, as the siren’s bones sank to its bed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit. I started writing this at 9 a.m and now it's 6 p.m  
> I had my second preparatories so uh... that's why I couldn't update. Sorry y'all. BUUUUUUT I now have a week off from school and I can write moar!! I'll give you angels the next chapter...um day after tomorrow I guess? There's a lot of explaining to come   
> Thank you guys so much for reading my work! Any criticism, questions or praise is absolutely welcome!! :)


	28. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all

Eld studied the crystal Eren had brought. “What are we going to do about all the dead mers?”

“… We’ll get to that later,”

Levi worried at the bones with his claws. When he had stripped all of them, he handed the cod over to Eren. The brunet eyed it vacantly before declining. Levi tore the cod into two pieces and put one in his mouth, working on it thoroughly. Then he cupped Eren’s cheeks and pressed their lips together.

Eren didn’t accept the offering. He fought back, tail trying to push Levi away. The merman remained indignant however; he backed Eren into the cave wall and coaxed him to open his mouth. Eren stubbornly refused to eat, until his stomach voiced its opinion so loudly the entire cave shook. Turning redder than Levi imagined it was possible for him to, Eren sighed and opened his mouth and Levi fed him the mashed fish, smirking. He received a slap to his bicep.

Eld, Oluo, and Gunther watched their interaction with interest. “Is he your mate?” Gunther’s voice came out thickly while he munched on a crab, having broken all of its funny little legs first and throwing its shell away.

“I’m courting him,” Levi picked up the other half of the fish and tore it into smaller pieces for Eren to eat.

Mermen never hid their affections when courting a partner; in fact, they made a show of spoiling their chosen mate in front of as many mers as possible to show how capable they were and to pose a challenge to any other mer that dared to stake a claim. It was also a display of strength and power – the more a mermaid was pleased with your attempts, the greater the chance of getting mated without any other merman interrupting.  
  
Levi intended to take advantage of spoiling Eren as much as he could. As Eren nibbled on one of the little pieces, Levi watched him, elevating his scent to soothe the mermaid. He shifted, putting an arm around Eren and tugged him closer. A sick sense of satisfaction rose in him when his nose relayed the scent of the others – arousal. Of course, they’d react that way; Eren was fertile and unclaimed, not to mention, the only mermaid in the cave with four other mermen.

“I never thought I’d see you courting a mermaid,” Eld picked at the crystal. It was dull, not like the ones that lit Levi’s cave. They were far more beautiful.

Levi changed his scent; it turned slightly feral, warning the other mermen to stop dreaming now. He had just been having a bit of fun with them; but they knew they had no hopes of getting the brunet so the atmosphere in the cave eased, with all their scents going back to normal. Relaxing his shoulders, Levi lifted a claw to brush a strand of Eren’s hair back, but the latter’s stiff posture stopped him midway in the act. Eren radiated tension, his tail swishing menacingly to warn Levi not to approach him.

 After they had all recovered from the shock of watching the death of the siren, Levi had insisted on taking shelter in the earlier cave to refuel themselves and rest. Everyone had agreed on the spot, save for Eren.

He didn’t talk much, keeping to himself and curling up behind his tail. His appetite was off, and he had grown unpleasantly thin. Faint bags underlined his eyes and his scent was always distressed, afraid or blank. Even his viridian tail had lost its vibrancy. Levi wanted to take Eren back to the community so that he could be properly taken care of; but Gunther, Eld, and Oluo deserved to rest awhile and eat.

“Commander,” Eld broke the silence, finally placing the crystal aside. “You said you have seen the cave where… where they all are,”

“I have, yes,”

“The bodies… what do we do with them?”

Levi sighed. “There’s not much to do; they’re all dead and rotting. These killings have been going for more than a year,”

“But–”

“Eld. They’re gone. We cannot do anything for them, only hope that they rot faster and not adversely poison the water. I doubt if any creature can live nearby; they’ll simply die from the stench,”

Eld backed up against the wall, crossing his arms in defeat. “Understood,”

Levi’s nostrils flared. _Fear_.

Eren’s scent had changed; it was tinged with fear now, Levi noted in alarm.

Ignoring Eren’s earlier coldness, he softly inched towards the brunet, placing a warm kiss on his back which was turned to him. When he refused to yield, Levi hugged him from behind, taking great care to be as slow and gentle as possible to not spook him. “You’re afraid,” he murmured into Eren’s ear, nudging it. “Shh, what’s wrong?”

Eren chose not to answer. He remained rooted to the spot, sending out waves of fear. The scent was pungent and Levi’s nose wrinkled in distaste.

“Eren,” Levi called sharply. “Eren, are you feeling well?”

This time, he took a deep breath and shuddered. Eren turned to face him and forced a smile that appeared more like a grimace. “I’m just a bit… overwhelmed I guess. I didn’t… I didn’t know he would die like that,” He leaned into Levi’s chest. “I’m cold,” he mumbled, claws resting softly on Levi’s shoulder.

Levi snaked himself around the brunet, raising his own core temperature to keep him warm. Eren _was_ cold – his skin had lost all its heat and lips were almost the shade of Levi’s tail. He picked up a bit of the leftover fish from earlier and held it up to Eren, who eagerly gobbled it up. Knowing that he was at least a little hungry now, Levi fed him the remaining fish while keeping a steady inflow of heat from his body into Eren’s. He purred, licking Eren’s cheek and waiting for a response. Few moments of silence ensued; then Eren purred back, nuzzling and melting into his merman’s touch.

* * *

Under Levi’s orders, they rested for a few days more. Eld had kept up a steady pace of recovery, with only a few scars left over as his trophies from the fight. Oluo and Gunther, however, were still slow to heal. Erwin had dealt considerable amounts of damage to them all, but Oluo, in particular, was the most maimed. He had unnecessarily provoked the siren instead of striking at an opportune time. They were all sporting torn fins and large bruises along their shoulders. Eren told them that siren claws released some sort of substance that slowed down the healing process. The journey back to the community could not be made when they were all in such a weak state.  
  
On the other hand, Levi bore no signs that indicated he had fought with the siren. His torn bicep and the deep gouges in his back had all healed without leaving a trace in them. His fins had also repaired themselves immaculately. It baffled him to no end; how had he healed so fast and so… perfectly? The last thing he could remember was that odd burning sensation that had taken hold of him when Eren had saved his head from being crushed into a rock.  
  
Did Eren have something to do with his quick recovery? Levi wondered as his mermaid slept on his tail.

Darkness had taken over the sky and the ocean and Levi kept vigil while the others slept. His ears informed of every little shifting and scraping and scuttling; a squid had once attempted to come inside, only to rush out quickly after Levi had chucked a rock at it. Levi continuously brought in captured fish and other suitable food, assisted by Eld when he had recovered somewhat sufficiently. But he _hated_ squids with passion.

Beside him, Eren shifted. Levi kept his eyes trained on him, watching as his viridian tail unfolded and stretched out. He blinked and cast his gaze around the cave, taking in the sleeping mermen before finally locking eyes with Levi. Eren parted his mouth slightly and moistened his lower lip.

Levi clicked his tongue, asking Eren to come closer and the brunet obliged. He dragged himself forward on his thin arms and collapsed into the merman’s broad chest, breathing heavily. Levi licked the tip of his ear in greeting. “Hungry?”

Eren shook his head. “I want to talk to you,”

“Me too,” Levi sighed, curling their tails together. “We don’t have privacy here though. Once we get back –”

“No. Talk now,” Eren set his chin stubbornly. Levi brushed his fluffy tangle of brown hair, a fond smile tugging at his lips. “I’ve missed you. A lot more than you can ever imagine,” he leaned in to nuzzle their noses.

Eren crooned back to him, licking Levi’s nose. “Me too. Can we go outside?”

“Why?”

“We’re… we’re near the shore. It’s been so long… we can go there and talk… we won’t have any interruptions,”

Levi regarded him as he idly played with a strand of hair. “Please?” Eren added, a note of urgency in his voice. He fidgeted uncomfortably, swishing his tail from side to side and adjusting his position while Levi held him. His arms were straining to hold his weight.

The slithering of scales had Levi’s ears twitching; he listened attentively, prepared to terrorize another squid if need be. Claws scraped over a rock as they fumbled. Levi turned back to find Eld awake.

“It’s my turn to keep watch,” he told the two mers breathily, eyes lingering on their braided tails. “Commander, you need to rest too,”

Levi couldn’t pass the opportunity that was thrust into his face.

“Eld… I need to step out for a bit. You have the cave until then,” he told him. Eld looked skeptical, but when Levi pulled Eren along, his expression changed into a knowing grin as he nodded. Levi’s hands quivered with a sudden urge to punch whatever lewd thoughts were coursing through Eld’s perverted mind. He and Eren and emerged out of the cave and into the water, breathing freely for once after being cramped up for so long.

“The shore?” Levi asked, mind fogging up as Eren twirled around in the water happily, flapping his glittering tail. _Mine._

“Yeah,” Eren smiled.

Why did he sound so pained?

* * *

The trees bowed down to the breeze, leaves waving in the air and whispering amongst themselves. The golden sand basked dully in the moonlight while the waves lazily raced back and forth to the shore. The tides were low and swept the sand in languid strokes. There wasn’t any creature in sight, save for the two mers.

They were back. Back to where it had all started.

Silent tears ran down Eren’s cheek as he played with the grains of sand, flicking pebbles with his claws. Levi’s nose itched from the constant scent of grief that coagulated about him. He hugged Eren from behind, kissing his back softly and keeping up a constant trail of kisses up to his shoulders and neck, tongue darting about Eren’s colors and relishing the taste of fresh dew. Eren sniffled but welcomed the attention.

He turned around and cupped Levi’s face. There was a desperation in him that Levi couldn’t quite understand as Eren closed the gap between them and ardently kissed him. He tugged on Levi’s lip, whining for the merman to come closer. Levi gently pushed Eren back until he was lying on the sand, pinned down. He smiled as the memory of their first encounter played in his head – Levi had found him sleeping in the exact same position and succumbed to the sweet pheromones of Eren’s heat, the only aroma that could have made him lose control.

He kissed Eren deeply, rubbing the coarse grains of sand off his body while their tails remained submerged in the ocean. Eren wrapped them up together, his claws raking Levi’s back but unable to cause any significant harm to him. They didn’t change their pace, kissing and licking their lips slowly. Levi pressed on Eren harder, wishing for more, but was abruptly pushed back.

Eren lay on the sand, crying. Levi panicked; had he pushed too far? Eren was bound to be exhausted and hungry; Levi cursed himself for not waiting until Eren gained some of his strength back. Eren had wanted to talk, not be seduced; but his scent was heavy with anguish, not hatred or fear. And Eren had kissed him first. What was going on?

“Levi,” Eren sat up and hugged him tightly, breaking down at once. “Oh Levi, I’m so sorry! I never should have – it’s all my fault Levi, it’s my fault those mermen died!” he blubbered, tears thickly gushing out of his eyes. “I should have listened to Erwin! If I had… if I had, then so many of them – they would all have survived and… and… and Isabel,” Eren gulped, fighting for breath, “Isabel would still have Farlan with her – they could have had a family; it’s my fault, I took it away from her! I deserve to die, Levi! I’m so sorry!”

Levi raised his scent, pressing Eren’s nose to his neck to soothe him while he repeatedly crooned. “It’s not your fault. None of it is,” he nuzzled Eren’s hair. “Eren, you aren’t responsible for any of this,”

“I am! Levi, if I had taken Erwin for a mate, he would have spared all these mermen!” Eren screamed. “It’s all my fault – because I was too proud, too proud to be tamed and knotted and bred because I wanted to be free–”

“Eren, all he ever wanted was to put his cock in you and fuck you dry!” Levi argued. “You said so yourself! He only saw you as a disposable toy! There’s nothing wrong with wanting to live your own life!”

“But I don’t deserve to live my own life! I don’t have one, Levi!” Eren’s claws dug into his back. “I should have never been born! I’m just one big mistake!”

Eren shrieked as Levi shoved him into the sand, growling harshly. “Don’t you… _dare,_ ” he jammed their mouths together, kissing Eren fiercely. “Don’t you dare say that you’re a mistake! You are the _best fucking thing that ever happened to me!_ ”

“I am…” Eren whispered back. “I… I caused so much trouble,”

“You did NOT. That was all Erwin; he was a stinking, lying, pathetic scum who ruined your life and everybody else’s that breathed in the same direction as him,” Levi seethed. “He took _so_ much away… and look… look what happened… I should have killed him that day,” he brushed Eren’s tears off with a claw. “If I had… oh Eren, if only I had… you would have been free…”

“I never would have. I’ll always have to keep running away Levi,”

“Why?”

“I’m a coward,”

Levi drew himself out of the ocean and climbed atop Eren, bathing him in his scent. “You are no coward. You are the _bravest_ mermaid I’ve ever known… I mean, you survived all by yourself over here, all alone ever since you were born and that too while being stalked by a fucking _siren_ Eren! You even escaped from Mike to come out here even though I had strictly ordered you not to… or maybe you’re just stupid, I can’t tell the difference sometimes,”

Eren coughed. “Levi, you don’t… you don’t know half of it… you don’t know what actually happened, you don’t know how I did it, you…” Eren sniffled, eyes clouded with fear. “You don’t know what I am,”

“What are you?”

“Not one of you,” he said in a small voice. “I… I’m not a mermaid Levi…”

Levi nodded, appearing sympathetic. “I understand. You’re a clownfish in disguise; that explains the cuteness,”

Eren laughed for the first time in ages; all the breath in Levi’s lungs was sucked away in an instant – how could someone sound so _beautiful_? This mermaid here was his, no matter what. He wouldn’t let go; never let go. As he looked upon Eren’s tear-streaked yet smiling face, he promised, “Eren, I neither care what Erwin did to you nor what you… what you are… you’ll always be the only mermaid to ever capture my eye and my heart. You’re the only mermaid I’ll ever want like this,” He united their lips together again, bringing the brunet closer and squeezed his shoulder. “Eren, I’ve been so patient with you... I’ve never pushed you and never tried to control you… please,” he pleaded with a soft bite to Eren’s lip, “Please… I want to help you. I want to wash away your fears; I want to ease your burden, so please be honest with me… I want to know,”

“…Only on one condition,”

“Anything,”

“You… I’ll tell you everything; in exchange Levi, please… please don’t hate me. Please, that’s all I ask for. That and forgiveness,”

Levi scoffed. “How can I ever hate you?”

“You won’t be saying that once I… once I show you,”

“Show?” Levi felt confusion as Eren broke them up, pushing him back. His eyes were rimmed red and his scent had changed to sour, but grim determination. Eren took a few deep breaths; then shedding a single tear, he brought his hand to his mouth. His teeth sank into the flesh, drawing blood.  
  
A loud crack echoed through the quiet of the night, followed by a hiss. Levi exclaimed in alarm as he staggered backward; the golden tip of Eren’s tail disintegrated, followed by the green-blue of his fins. In perfect order, the multi-colored scales that adorned his viridian tail and had charmed Levi fell in a shower of green and blue pebbles that glittered on the sand. Eren’s expression was that of agony as his tail turned to bare muscle, bleeding horribly.

“Eren!” His mind was a whirlpool of confusion, astonishment and terror as Levi reached out to him but jerked to a stop. The muscle broke in two with a second sinister crack. It parted right up to his groin, releasing steam. Then as rapidly as the scales had fallen down, the two strips of muscle began to grow a covering – an outer layer that was identical in color to the rest of Eren. The covering spread throughout the long appendages faster than Levi could process what was happening; in seconds, they had completely blanketed the once bare and bleeding muscle. And as Eren gave an experimental jerk to both parts, Levi understood. Eren had told stories to him about those creatures… what they did, how they lived and… what they looked like… he knew what those structures were called.

Levi watched as Eren stood on two legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo I'm a liar. But Eren's backstory was so LONG; I couldn't include it here because I didn't wanna give you guys a headache. It's gonna be in the next chapter though!  
> Thank you so much for reading my fic!! As usual, your comments, questions, and criticisms fuel me so they're always welcome. I love you all!


	29. The Mermaid's Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So... Eren's backstory y'all

His legs jerked wildly and gave out beneath him. Eren gave an undignified squawk as he tripped forward; Levi’s mind sagged with shock and denial but he reacted instantly, catching Eren and righting him. Eren wobbled unsurely on his legs as Levi helped him back to the firm ground where he flopped down at once.

His hand slowly reached out to touch the strange appendage. Eren’s explanation of humans had constructed a crude image of them in his mind, but he hadn’t expected them to be like this. Vibrant turquoise scales ran along the edges of his thighs and arms, while his specks of colors remained intact on his shoulders along with his gills and scent glands. Eren’s ears were still pointed and their corners were tinged green. His fingers had webbing between them. He looked exactly like a normal mermaid, but devoid of his tail.

His… _legs_ … were tanned just like the rest of him and were long. At the end were weird structures that had five blobs on the top with webbing between them as well. Levi’s claws met the appendage and he was startled to discover it was skin. Warm, soft skin.

Levi examined it carefully, knowing that his claws could tear the tender flesh without any resistance. Eren trembled beneath his touch, the slightest tremors arising and following his claws wherever he felt Eren. He searched Eren for permission, a sign that the brunet was comfortable and received a small nod.

Levi was neither particularly curious nor wondrous about the world around them like how Eren and Hanji were. He was more of the subdued, ‘kill or be killed’ type, preferring to stay within the boundaries of his comfort zone. But he wanted to know what this was. His claws traced their path from the bottom to the top of Eren’s legs where they met his hips. His hands lingered over there for a while, stroking the warm flesh.

“Can… can you come closer?”

Eren swallowed in hesitation. He lay completely still, as though he was trying to pretend to be a rock.

Slowly, he changed the position of his legs and supported himself on all four limbs as he crawled towards Levi, eyes stiffly fixed on the merman at all times. Eren inched closer and closer until he was directly in front of Levi. He straightened his back and sat in a strange position – the lower half of his legs were bent and folded behind him while the upper half laid on it. It was like… folding his tail in half and then sitting on it. Either way, Levi’s attention was drawn to the upper half of his legs which were… thick and wide. His claws gripped them and he huffed in surprise at how warm they were. Maybe humans had a higher body temperature than mers?

“…Thighs,”

“What?”

“These are my thighs,”

“Oh,” Levi squeezed them. They were fat and soft. Eren squirmed and unfolded his legs, surprising Levi again; how flexible was he?

“This is a knee,” Eren pointed towards a hard, round structure that fell midway between his legs. “It helps in bending,”

“Ok…” Levi mumbled as he tapped a claw on it; it really was hard. “Is that a rock you have in there?”

“No, it’s a bone,”

“Hm… what are _those_?” Levi pointed at the end of his legs which had the weird protrusion and five blobs. He exclaimed in surprise as the five things _moved_. Were they… some kind of _creature_ that had formed a symbiotic relationship with Eren’s body?

Eren smiled. “Those are my feet. And –” those blobs moved again, “– toes,”

“Toes… what are they, some kind of fungus?”

“No, they are like… fingers, but for your legs,”

“Humans have leg fingers?”

“Yeah, sort of… they help in walking,”  

“Humans,” Levi sighed with a shake of his head, “are ridiculous,”

“We appear ridiculous to them too,” Eren chided him. He thrust his foot into Levi’s face and wriggled his toes, giggling when Levi snorted and sneezed. Levi glared suspiciously at Eren’s toes before turning to him again. The brunet was tense, his scent thick with nerves and rejection;

Levi’s scent had Eren’s shoulders relaxing a little and a hopeful glimmer appeared in his eyes. “Closer,” Levi cooed at him, holding out a hand. Eren took it and immersed his legs in the water with a gasp. He proceeded slowly until his bottom half was finally hidden in the water and he was caught in Levi’s embrace. His stiffness vaporized into the night as he slackened and gave himself to Levi. He inhaled Eren’s scent which was reverting back to sweet lily and fresh earth and licked his neck.

“You’re not… you’re not disgusted?” Eren’s voice came out muffled from their hug.

“I… I’m not that surprised, actually,” Levi kissed his scent gland. “It’s just… when you used to talk about humans, you seemed so _fascinated_ by them… like as though you actually knew them and wanted to be… like them. You always had a strange look in your eye and were always so enthusiastic about humans that… I… I kind of began imagining you as one. I often dreamt what you would look like as a human, how excited you’d be if you were given a chance to live with them, so…” He felt Eren’s heart thump and race, beating so loud into the night that it could be heard from miles away. “My imagination skills are not the best, obviously,” he cleared his throat.

“You are _beautiful_ ,”

 He felt Eren’s disbelief, felt it in the way his scent rose hysterically and the way he broke down again clutching onto Levi for dear life. Levi squeezed him, kissing Eren’s scent gland to assure him he was there and not abandoning him. As Eren’s scent overwhelmed him, rapidly changing from fear to shock to relief and happiness, a tidal wave of understanding broke on Levi: _fresh earth and lilies_ …

 “Your father is a human,”

“Yeah…he left mum. That’s why I wanted to go to the human world: to find him,” Eren pushed himself higher so that his nose lay on Levi’s neck. Levi felt like he was stung by a jellyfish when the wetness of Eren’s tongue lapped over his own glands and colors. He pinned Eren’s head in place; getting the hint, Eren continued to lick and taste his colors.

“Mum met him one day when she had come to relax at the shore… she couldn’t hide fast enough and so ended up being spotted, but dad promised to keep her secret. She came here every day to meet him, exchanging stories about their worlds… and well, they sort of clicked. I don’t think she was claimed in the way mermaids are… so I think that makes me a bastard,” Eren swallowed. “My father had to go back to his home so he did… a day before mum found out she was bearing his pup. She panicked, and… I think she went to Uri for help… that’s what he told me,”

“Wait, you know Uri?” Levi pulled Eren away from him, horrorstruck. “Did he do anything to you Eren? Did he hurt you?” he asked him frantically, eyes taking in Eren’s body for possible marks or scars.

“No! We just… talked. I don’t know if it’s considered talking because he spoke into my head directly the entire time… but yeah I’ve met him,”

“And he… does he know about –”

“He knows what we both did,” Eren pulled a face. “He’s a creepy old sod… how do _you_ know him?”

“He’s the king’s brother Eren,” Levi rolled his eyes. “Everybody knows him,”

 “… Well, he’s the reason I came running all the way here.” Eren shifted his eyes guiltily. “My mum… she went to him for help and he denied her because he couldn’t let an abomination –” Levi growled at the word causing Eren to flinch, “– he couldn’t let someone like me in the community… apparently, I’m a threat to your species,” he laughed bitterly. “Heck, the only thing I’ve done is gone into heats and fed fish to otters!”

“I can understand why he said that though,” he continued. “I... I am a bit of a danger to your species, aren’t I? So… so he banished my mum to the shores where she was left alone and pregnant. But he didn’t want to leave her completely undefended and so, he… he created a siren for me. A siren who kept tabs on us from afar and kept Uri informed of our movements,”

_I’ve known him before he was even born._

“Erwin,” Levi ground his teeth.

Eren sniffed in agreement. “Erwin was some kind of bodyguard for mum. Uri had enlisted him with making sure we didn’t cause too much trouble. He didn’t reveal himself to me until after I had matured. My mum brought me up with difficulty, amidst her heats and other problems, but she was more terrified for me than herself because… well, you know what I am. She taught me how to live and all the basic necessities a mermaid must know to survive. She told me horrible stories about mermen and the mer community in an attempt to keep me safe and away from you all… we never stayed at the same place, moving from caves to caves. I learned about humans from her… she always talked a lot about dad and got this misty look in her eyes when she did… I could tell she missed him a lot.

“Mum disappeared one day. I still don’t know what happened to her – whether she was killed while looking for food or got captured; either way, I was left alone. I looked for days, Levi; I cried and screamed, but never found her. After months and months, I realized she was never coming back. And that was when my fear for the mer community turned into hatred. I hated everything about that place. I believed it was because of them my mum had disappeared; maybe they had killed her. She had told me that if anyone from the community found me, I wouldn’t be allowed to live,” Eren growled and his eyes took on a feral glow.

“So I vowed to _live_ no matter what. I wouldn’t let them waste my mother’s sacrifice. I lived for her, fought for her, survived for her. And also for the dolphins; dolphins were my best friends back then, and they let me sleep with them… I couldn’t abandon my best friends. So I lived and hunted with the dolphins and learned so much about the ocean – which seaweeds and crabs were edible, which were good for healing injuries, all that. I got stung by jellyfishes so many times; the dolphins never minded my human form so I always sought their company.

“But… uh… it wasn’t enough. I wanted to know more about my body. About humans. I wanted to know _why_ I was like this, and what other humans looked like. Mum told the mer community wouldn’t accept me, so maybe humans would? I was around fifteen or something and my human form was irritating me a lot. I felt uncomfortable for long times of the day; I didn’t know anything, except I had legs.”

Eren took a deep breath and scratched his chin. “So one day… I left. I left the ocean. I turned into my human self and ran away from the shore. I just wanted to _know_ , Levi. I was so hungry for answers, desperate to _know_ … and… I wanted a place to belong. I wanted a family. I had seen a bunch of humans at the shore before, building sand castles. So I… followed them. I mimicked whatever they did and finally, I reached civilization.

“The first thing I learned was humans did _not_ wander naked like how we did. I stole some stuff from the humans I had followed and it took a really long time to work things out, but I did it. The other humans were bewildered by me – they thought my scales were some kind of tattoo, and my ears were a result of plastic surgery or something. It was scary at first; I tried to avoid attention as much as I could, traveling only by night and in small alleys; I didn’t have any specific destination, other than finding someplace with food… I stole sometimes, but then one day came across this huge garden with a pond in it that was full of fish. I went mad – don’t look at me like that, I was hungry! So I jumped in… and was immediately pulled out.

“It was a human… a girl, somewhat around my age. She started scolding me for being so stupid and reckless, and when she asked me why I had jumped in, I showed her the fish I had caught and explained to her that I was really hungry. I thought she was gonna get super mad, but then she began to laugh like crazy… and she took me into her home.

“She was a college student. Pieck – that’s her name – found out I wasn’t actually a human and she went wild; she was so interested in me and started asking all sorts of questions about the ocean and mer stuff, and I tried my best to answer her. I told her about my mum and how I had lived my life, and why I had come here. I told her I was looking for my father. She was a bit skeptical at first but then agreed to help me find dad. And that’s where it all started. 

“Pieck was _awesome_ , Levi. She was so smart and kind; she taught me everything I know now about humans and took me to so many places; she introduced me to human food and I hated most of it (but cheeseburgers are my favorite). She took me to aquariums and helped me study marine life and their habits in detail. She made me familiarize with human culture and their language, and how their society worked; I even discovered about the internet! She taught me to read... I did have difficulties when it came to reading, though, and surfed facts about mythology and religion on the net. I learned _so much_ with Pieck; and in turn, I let her study me and taught her how to talk to dolphins at the aquarium, how to properly open clams and all that stuff. She sneaked me into her college dormitory so that I could stay with her.

“But we never forgot about my initial reason to come here: my father. Before he left, he had given my mum one of his belongings: a little golden key, with his name carved at the side. Mum had given it to me and I showed it to Pieck. His family name is ‘Yeager’; so we both spent hours on the internet looking for anything that gave us a clue about his whereabouts.  It took a long time, but we eventually found him. So one day, during Pieck’s winter break, she drove us to the countryside where he ran a clinic- that's kind of like a small healing center for humans - and owned a farm… I… I saw him,”

Eren gulped. “My father… he… he had a family. He was marrie– mated to another human and was quite happy with her… they even had a son… I… I have a brother Levi,” Eren looked up. “I have a younger brother… half-brother to be precise; I found out his name was Zeke. My father… had taken up another mate after his affair with my mum. And he didn’t have a care in the world about the mermaid whose heart he had stolen, whose life he had ruined. He left before he found about her pregnancy, so… so he didn’t even know that he had another son! I… I was so… Levi, I f-felt so…”

Eren’s voice faltered and there were fresh tears hanging onto his lashes. He sniffed and rubbed his nose.

Levi snuggled against him. “I was furious Levi. I begged Pieck to let me return to the ocean; she was confused and asked me to stay, but I didn’t want to be there anymore. She was crestfallen but agreed. I still feel guilty when I think back to how she looked at me that day. Before I came back, I gave her my key. I told her to keep it… and so I returned from the human world, back to the ocean. And I continued living there on my own, surviving like I always had. I never wanted to become like my mother. I never wanted to have a mate…but a few months later, I… my time came. I went into heat and matured.

“Levi that was the most terrifying thing I had ever been through. I couldn’t make sense of anything and I was hurting so bad, I thought I was going to die. When my heat ended, I was so weak, I could barely breathe… and that was when Erwin revealed himself to me. That was how I met him. I told you before; he was a perfect gentleman and absolutely charming, catering to my every needs and request. Uri had promised Erwin that in exchange for keeping him informed, Erwin could take me for a mate. And so he courted me and… I had just recovered from a heat, hadn’t I? So naturally, I was a dumbass and… my resolve to never have a mate melted pathetically. I wanted him. I wanted a loving, doting mate and… Levi, I wanted a family to belong to and Erwin promised it all to me. I was so _stupid_ Levi, I loved him so much! I thought I could finally stop running away and be safe… Erwin gave me the comfort I required and I fell for him so bad, it hurt all over again. I thought he wouldn’t turn out like my father… but the day he murdered a passing merman who tried for my hand in cold blood and hit me was the day I woke up.

“It was like someone had dunked me in a barrel of ice; he was nothing but an illusion – the illusion I wanted, I had _created_ to tell myself that I had a place to belong. He was the perfect definition of ‘barbarian’. When I refused him out of fear and disgust, he bit me and bound me. When passing mermen were anywhere nearby, he… he _destroyed_ them. I turned into a human and ran away to the shore, but how long could I stay there?! I couldn’t go back to civilization, now that I had matured, and my skin irked me if I stayed out in the sun for too long. If I came back to the water, Erwin would be waiting for me. I considered running to the community and staying there, but I remembered mum; my hatred for the community turned to fear again. I had _nowhere to_ go. I could only run from cave to cave, hide behind rocks and pray that I wasn’t found or killed.

“And my heats – Levi, my body was a complete _mess_ of human and mermaid hormones; my heats were abnormally timed and happened twice a month or didn’t happen at all! There was a clash of various hormones at once and my body responded to all of them and it tore me apart; I was being boiled from the inside, Levi! I mean look at me!” he cried shrilly. “I’m not pregnant, and I can still… my breasts can still produce milk. I’m just a mess. And Erwin grew monstrous day by day; it was horrible because he was sometimes a damn beast, but then would immediately change and become a comforting and understanding mer, fondling me and cuddling me. I didn’t understand what I wanted. I didn’t know. I just kept running… again and again. I always ran,” Eren sighed.

Levi had listened to him gush about his life and the silence was saturating. It all began to click and fall in place – why Eren was so reluctant to kill the siren, why he knew so much about the humans, why he had stayed away from the community for all his life, his fear of being mated – everything that Eren had gone through, the pain he had been forced to endure and suffer, the constant threat of being discovered and caught… always living a life of fear and insecurity… Levi’s chest heaved as he hugged him with all the force and affection he could muster and put his heart into his scent and covered Eren in it. “I’m here. You don’t have to run away anymore Eren,”

“I have to… Uri told me I have to break our bond Levi,” he quickly relayed his and Uri’s interaction to Levi and waited for a response, sniffling into Levi’s chest.

“Uri said… Uri said you had to break your bond to save me,” Levi repeated and Eren confirmed it with a sob and a nod. He held him tightly, afraid to let go.   
Levi's claws found Eren’s chin and lifted his face up.

“Erwin is dead, Eren… you saved the merfolk,” he said quietly. “We killed him… _you_ killed him,”

The grief siphoned off Eren’s face at once, replaced with befuddlement. “Yeah… so?”

“ _So?_ ” Levi lifted Eren completely out of the water, cradling the screaming brunet and quieted him at once with his mouth. He slotted their lips together, massaging whatever part of Eren his hands chanced upon. “Eren, he’s _gone._ You’re free Eren. You don’t have to live in fear anymore,” Levi breathed. “You can come back. You can come back to the community; you can live with Isabel, Armin, Mikasa, and Hanji… and me,”

“I can’t!”

“Oh _Eren,_ what are you so afraid of? Uri? He told you that he wouldn’t dare get in my way,”

“Yeah, but –”

“No buts.” Levi cut him off firmly with a chaste kiss. “I’m bringing you back. I’m bringing you home,”

“H-Home?” He whispered in a daze.

“Home. We’re going home, Eren,”

Eren shook his head as the saltiness of the ocean and fresh earth laced together and his legs wrapped around Levi’s waist.  

“You’re my home,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PHEW, this was one of the hardest chapters I've ever written. Finally! It's done! The end!  
> of the siren stuff.  
> Also: Eren was hiding his dick. He tried his best not to show it to Levi, but... well, stuff happens in the next chapter  
> Brace yourselves; from now, we return to merfolk stuff: courting, cuddling, marking, mating, and ehehehehehe.   
> Again, thank you all so much for reading! Comments, criticism, and questions are always welcome! I love you all!! <333333333


	30. Under the moonlight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Awkward smut. Heh...

“Levi… I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Eren looked away. “You can take me back to the community, but then what? I… I don’t think Uri will allow me to live there,”

“He will. I will make him,” Levi steered Eren’s face towards him. Their eyes locked, unsure viridian with determined grey. “You belong with the merfolk. He doesn’t have any rights to isolate you like that,”

Eren’s lower lips trembled. “How? How will you convince him? Levi, I don’t want to risk something bad happening to you!”

“You don’t have to worry about me,”

“I do!” Eren retorted, his voice breaking up and eyes beginning to moisten. “Levi, I don’t want something to happen to you! You have no idea how _much_ you mean to me, and I –”

Levi cut him across with a haste peck. “You have no idea how much _you_ mean to me Eren… I won’t let you suffer like this,”

“What power do you have against Uri and the King?”

“I am the strongest mer warrior in this kingdom. If that isn’t enough,” Levi’s eyes glittered, “I am a merman,”

“So?”

“So, neither Uri nor the king has any rights to banish my mate. Regardless of their rank, a merman’s primal rights are supreme,”

Eren parted his mouth in astonishment. “Your mate?” he asked in confusion before his face dawned with understanding.

“No,” Eren breathed.

“Yes,”

“Levi –”

“I’ve been courting you ever since we both met. You are the only mermaid Eren who has ever, _ever_ caught me in your hands like this,” Levi kissed his glands. “Please… I am not Erwin. I will make a far better mate than he ever did! I will give you your heart’s desire, just _please…_ accept my courtship,”

Eren’s voice cracked as he fought to refrain his tears. “Levi, why me? Look at what I am!”

“I already told you: I don’t care,”

“But –”

“I’ve waited _so long_ for a mate, Eren… I’ve searched high and low, I’ve been to the deepest trenches and the darkest caves, I’ve done everything I could, but I never found a mermaid to share my nest… until you,” Levi put softly. “I want you. Not anybody else. And if you become my mate, Uri cannot send you away. He’ll be at my mercy. You will be safe, with me. And you will have Isabel, Armin, Mikasa and Hanji as well…”

“What if –”

“I will keep you safe. I won’t let them take you away again. I’m not Erwin: I won’t kill anyone like that nor will I hurt you, so please?”

Eren gulped. “How can I ever think you’ll be like Erwin? Levi, I know what you are... if there's a reason I haven't fled yet, it's because of you. If there's anyone I've ever wanted so bad it hurts me every time I look at them, it's you,”

Levi felt hope surge through him. “Will you be my mate then?” he brushed Eren’s hair back and studied his face, searching for an answer. Eren’s eyes roamed everywhere but refused to meet him.

“…I’m still not sure… Levi, I’ll gladly accept you in a heartbeat and do it again, but I don’t want to… I don’t want to disappoint you,” he mumbled. “You’d be much better off with an actual mermaid and not a freak like me,”

“A freak? Eren, as long as you don’t try to eat me or poison me, I’ll be fine,” he kissed the brunet’s cheek. “Please. I have done so much for you…”

Eren struggled with himself, biting his lip and tearing up a little. He looked so hopelessly lost that it brought a lump in Levi’s throat. If only he could understand how big a place Eren had built for himself in Levi’s heart… then again, after all those years of living alone and being reminded he was an abomination, it was no wonder Eren was so reluctant to be accepted back into the place he was driven out from.

He decided to take a different approach.

Levi’s hands slid down the flesh and skimmed over the scales that littered the sides of Eren’s thighs. Curiosity was an emotion that was best left to the likes of Hanji, but Levi found himself yearning for more as he Eren pressed to him. His hands gripped Eren’s thighs and he pulled them higher up his waist. Eren whined and buried his head in Levi’s neck, inspiring his scent and releasing a fresh gust into the air. Levi crooned, inviting him to repeat the action and examine his glands while he busied about with Eren’s lower half.

When a sudden wetness coated his glands, the beginnings of ecstasy pooled in the pit of his stomach and he crooned harder. Encouraged by the response, Eren began to lap up Levi’s glands with his tongue in earnest. Every stroke of the pink muscle had Levi’s spine curving and he barred his neck for Eren, exposing his gills completely. Eren crooned back, his low warbles singing a melody that was meant only for the merman to listen, and listen he did. The vibrations of Eren’s lips moved over his gills and convulsions greeted him. Oh this was new… and so very _good_.

His hands travelled further upwards, bumping over the smooth scales until they cupped smooth and supple flesh. This was something Levi had never encountered before; the skin here was succulent and round and Levi’s mindful claws gripped it naturally. Breathing heavily, Levi decided to test the waters. He squeezed.

The squeak that erupted from Eren was worth it and Levi squeezed again, growing bolder. Eren’s claws raked his skin, searching for purchase until they firmly implanted themselves into Levi’s shoulders. He breathed and hot air flooded his gills, dazing him. Levi left the round flesh and his one hand continued further north on a lone journey, feeling the curve of Eren’s spine and smooth, unscarred back until they rested on the neck that Levi longed to bite so much. He pushed Eren gently so that the brunet's head was pinned down to Levi's neck and could continue pleasuring his scent glands.

When merfolk courted, it was a sort of tradition to honor their scent glands, which along with mating marks symbolized their bonding. During this phase of the courting, the scent glands that lay flat on the skin made themselves visible, appearing to the surface and forming a fragile bump, a sign of heavy arousal and need. Levi quivered as Eren chirruped to his glands, licking and kissing them so tenderly that the merman sagged and felt weightless. _Mate,_ Levi purred.

At the same time, something pressed itself to Levi’s crotch and he frowned. Eren’s hands were around his neck and he didn’t have fins. The ‘something’ bulged against the opening behind which Levi’s cock remained hidden, rapidly swelling as Eren continued to assault his neck. Levi moved his head slightly and detangled Eren’s legs from his waist, his movements slow and sluggish as heat flooded his gut and chest. Something long and pink dangled between Eren’s thighs and Levi huffed out a surprised chirp.

“Eren… what’s _that_?” Levi stared at the pink flesh but as seconds passed without Eren replying to him, the familiar structure and Eren’s frantic puffs of breath clicked into his mind. Oh… _oh.  
_ Levi’s face boiled.

Hardly daring to breathe, his claws left Eren’s behind. The brunet struggled, legs kicking the water and trying to hold on to the slippery scales that adorned Levi’s tail. Levi supported him with a hand on his back. The other hand, his right one, pinched the insides of Eren’s thighs, releasing a low trill from him, and continued upwards, slipping on the slick covered thighs. The tip of his claw touched the head of Eren’s length and he went deathly still in Levi’s grip, waiting. Levi inhaled and wrapped his hands completely around the pink member with the irresistible urge to squeeze it. He did.

“Levi!” Eren choked and his legs went wild, sloshing the water around them and another strong gust of sweet lily choked the air. Levi pumped it again, moving his hand up and down and massaging the soft, heated flesh. Eren’s breathing was a bundle of shallow pants and sharp gasps, with an occasional whine of his name.

Levi pushed Eren to the beach and pinned him on the sand. Eren didn’t protest, eyes an ocean of black, and raised his legs upward to wrap them around Levi’s back while the merman crawled atop him. Eren pulled Levi towards him in a show of desperate need and their lips slid over each other, tongues darting between the ruby holes to steal a taste of the other. Eren began pushing himself up and down on the sand in search of friction and a second later Levi provided him with what he was looking for as he ground their hips together. The coarse particles of sand and silt covered their bellies and scratched him, but Levi rubbed harder. Eren’s fingers curled around his wet strands and tugged forcefully.

“ _Levi_ …” Eren whispered with a bite to his chin. “If you really want me, if you meant what you said earlier… show it to me… _mark me_ ,”

The beast in Levi roared. _Finally._

With a brief kiss, Levi left Eren’s lips and began his quest, kissing and licking alongside his jaw before opening his mouth. A brief moment of hesitation stopped him, but he shook his head. Eren had given his permission. Eren’s permission was everything.

Levi let his canines run free. For the first time, he didn’t hold back.

He bit and sucked on every inch of skin he could find. His teeth scraped all over Eren’s neck, kissing and pulling the skin before letting it go, carefully avoiding his glands – that was meant for when they would actually mate – and gills. Every new mark that Levi gave had Eren whimpering and groaning in delight, his overheated body struggling beneath Levi’s weight. Levi didn’t spare any part, gnawing and leaving his claim on Eren’s shoulders and collarbones; all the while Eren chanted his name and begged for more. His instincts were running haywire and he itched to set his claws on Eren as well - but the pain would become too much. Levi decided to take his time and mark Eren completely when they actually mated. For now, biting would suffice.

His right hand still worked on Eren’s cock, pumping and squeezing it in steady rhythms to Eren’s moans and his bites. As Eren’s tugs on his hair grew wilder, Levi ground them harder; his left hand clutched Eren’s hips so hard that he was sure they’d be bruises on them. As Eren’s shrieks grew, Levi’s slit swelled; there was a brief compression and his own cock slid out, slicked and painfully swollen.

“Levi… Levi, _Levi please,_ ” Eren moaned and squealed a second later as Levi bit into his breast and gnawed on it. Eren’s hips jerked upwards as Levi pinched his cock and his breath came out in panicked gasps. “Levi!” Eren cried in alarm. “Levi, I’m going to –!”

Eren’s member grew unbelievably hot in his hand and the next second, something heavy and sticky burst into his hand and squirted all over their bellies. Levi slowed their grinding down, his skin beginning to itch from Eren’s release and the sand covering them while the brunet panted below him, eyes closed.

“Levi,” Eren gushed, hands reaching out to cup his face, but Levi pushed them away. His stomach cramped painfully.

The moonlight spilled over Eren and threw his marks into sharp relief. Seeing his handiwork on the flesh he had desired so much awoke a strange emotion in Levi; the beast in him bellowed and Levi listened to it as his hardened cock twitched. Desire flooded Levi; he wanted to do _something_ … but Eren was in his human form… he couldn’t sate his need when Eren was like this.

“Eren,” Levi panted, gripping his hips. He understood now, the consequences of not having satisfied his primal urges as his stomach’s cramp worsened. “Eren, it hurts,” he jerked, grinding his cock on the sand.

He was lifted and his tail thrashed in surprise. Eren was by him and as he watched the merman seek out for resistance, he understood. “Here,” he crawled over to him. “Levi listen to me. I can help,”

“Help…” Levi mumbled. “How?”

Eren pulled Levi closer. “Do exactly as I say,”

Levi watched, his mind growing dizzier by the second, as Eren turned over and laid on the sand on his stomach and lifted his hips in the air. Levi saw the outline of his cock pressed between his thighs, starting to swell again. “Climb on me,”

Levi crawled atop Eren so that his lips were meeting Eren’s neck. He kissed him lightly. “Ok, I’m here,”

Eren shivered and nodded. Beneath his tail, Levi felt Eren part his legs.

“Levi, rest your hands on my ass,”

“Your _what_?”

“The round fleshy part,”

“Oh so that’s what it’s called huh?” Levi did as he was instructed. It was so gratifying to hold Eren there, and he squeezed again. Eren kicked his tail.

“Now, separate them,”

Levi’s claws dug into the tender flesh and Eren hissed below him, causing him to relax his grip at once. “Sorry,” he kissed Eren’s neck again.

“That’s alright… go ahead,”

More cautious this time, Levi spread him apart, gently kneading the flesh as he did. Eren’s groan came out muffled by the sand and he gagged and spluttered as Levi burst out laughing.

“THERE’S SAND IN MY MOUTH!”

“I’m sorry!”

“LEVI, THIS IS NOT FUNNY! I SPILLED SOME OF MY SEMEN ON THE SAND!”

“Whoops,”

“LEVI!”

Levi turned his head over and kissed him, licking off some of the sand from Eren’s mouth and spat it out. “Better?” he whispered into Eren’s ears and blew air into it.

Eren wriggled. “Get on with it!”

“What the fuck am I supposed to do?!”

“Your cock… position it right in front of my ass,”

Levi squirmed as he moved his hips. It took a lot of time and his tail swished uncomfortably; at one point, Levi’s fins blared out in his face. His hardened length wasn’t doing him any favors as it flopped about, slapping Eren’s ass and thighs.

“Levi, what’s wrong with your cock?”

“It’s not listening to me!” Levi snorted.

“Then make it listen! Damn it, it’s your cock!”

They both succumbed to fits of laughter, giggling madly on the beach. Levi dug his nose into Eren’s hair and nuzzled against it, warmth blazing through from his head to the tip of his fins. If being mated with Eren was like this… Levi smiled.

Oh, he never wanted to let him go.

“Hey. Hey, my ass is getting cold. Levi, hurry up!”

“Ok,” Levi shifted. After a few tries, he got it right and his swollen member lined up against the flesh.

“You’re slick,”

“Yeah… the protective pouch creates it so that the mating process is easier,”

“Oh… ok, then it’s easy. Do you… know how to –”

“I’ve seen a few mers mating. They don’t tend to be quite secretive about it,”

“Ok, good. You have to just slide into me. The slick will make it easy,”

“Slide into you?”

“Yes. Just… push in between my ass; you’ll understand,”

Levi inhaled. He gripped Eren’s hips tightly and thrust forward.

Eren _screamed_ as Levi glided inside effortlessly, the copious amount of slick doing its job perfectly. Levi’s vision went white as he registered the boiling heat engulfing his cock and the thickness that surrounded it. His hands vibrated as he held Eren harder. Both of them panted, and sweat poured from Levi’s forehead onto Eren’s back. While he had countless times imagined himself mating with a mermaid of his choosing, _this_ was not how he had intended. His stomach eased, but only a little. He jerked his hips.

“Eren?  Levi called him throatily. He could barely think with Eren’s heat shutting down all of his senses, but he didn’t want to cause his precious mate discomfort. Eren was scratching at the sand beneath him, shaking.

“…I’m good… please… _move_ _Levi,_ ”

“Sure?”

“ _Hurry!_ ”

That was all he needed. Rekindling his grip on Eren, Levi began to thrust into him, pulling Eren’s hips backward until they hit Levi’s groin and his cock was entirely sheathed into Eren’s wondrous heat. He slammed their hips together, pushing and pulling, as Eren moaned and shrieked for his mate. Levi grabbed Eren’s shoulders while continuing to thrust, and set his teeth to Eren’s back, determined to mark this new area presented to him. As he rode, his teeth added fresh marks to Eren’s collection while the brunet clawed helplessly below him, urging him to hasten his pace.

“LEVI!” Eren cried at one of his thrusts and fire flared through Levi’s veins. Salty breeze rushed to mingle with the heavy drifts of earth released by both mers as euphoria's arms decided to embrace them. “Levi, there! Right there, come on, push harder!”

The merman in him, eager to please his mate, made Levi strive harder as he continued to propel into Eren from that one specific angle and was vaguely aware of his cock slamming into a light lump of flesh. Realizing that the flesh was the cause of Eren’s elation, Levi pushed harder, hastening his pace and burying Eren deeper into the sand. His hands and stomach were all covered in the rough particles, but none of that mattered as Eren gave a single cry and Levi raised his head to heavens, arching his back and opening his eyes to thank the stars. His cock burned and white-hot pleasure numbed his senses as Levi too cried a single word, a name, the name that held his heart and the base of his cock inflated rapidly before bursting inside the boiling heat of Eren’s hole. Eren came seconds later, again, and his milky release decorated the sand again as he went limp.

Levi pulled out of Eren, panting erratically and flopped beside him on the sand.

“…Does that show you?”

Levi turned over with what strength he had to find Eren panting, his face obscured by gleaming tears.

He dragged himself towards Levi and collapsed into the waiting merman’s arms. Levi curled his tail around Eren’s legs, breathing in his scent as they both lay on the sand, the waves of the ocean lazily running over to lap them with her cool touch before withdrawing again. Before his eyes could close, Levi looked up.

The moon and stars twinkled at him.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. There ya go.  
> Now I know this isn't the best sex ever, but I'm just starting to recover and grow adjusted to my fear of sex. So I apologize if this wasn't first-rate stuff - and Levi being a merman makes this more... challenging to write.   
> Next chapter: FLLLLLLLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFF  
> A big <3 to every angel who's reading this. I love you all!  
> Comments, criticisms and questions are always welcome <333333333 :)


	31. Mates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I promised fluufff. You get the fluufff

Levi coughed and spat out sand.

He had woken up at first light, groggy and itchy. With the constant crashing of waves and the sand that refused to stop coating him, Levi considered it a miracle that he had gotten to sleep at all. It was then he had noticed the presence of another body beside him, equally sticky and covered in sand. Memories resurfaced and brought a smile to Levi’s face.

Eren had let him be marked.

Careful so as to not wake him up, Levi had taken Eren and dived into the water in search of a cave for a few moments of undisturbed sleep and quiet. His instincts absolutely refused to return to the cave where Eld, Gunther and Oluo rested and Levi agreed. Eren was newly marked and he wanted Eren all to himself. So he hunted for a cave that was secluded and tucked far away from the prying eyes of any marine creature, be it a squid, mer or fish. Once satisfied with the grotto he had found hidden behind corals and seaweed, Levi had set to grooming his mate.

 _Mate_. Levi felt a rush of happiness over being able to call Eren his mate. His chest swelled as he saw his sleeping mermaid, forever an ethereal beauty – the gentlest, strongest and brightest mermaid ever known had accepted his courtship and Levi hugged Eren to his chest tightly.

He was his. Eren was all his now. He didn’t have to worry about other mermen; Eren had chosen _him_.  

The grains of sand stuck to Eren’s back were unrelenting and no matter how many times Levi licked him, they either clung to his tongue or to a new part of Eren. It made him furious – _he_ should be the one sticking to Eren and not letting go. The sand had no rights to touch Eren and he growled.

Did he just get jealous of _sand_?

Levi sighed; the things Eren made him feel – he shook his head and kissed his mate’s forehead. Deciding to groom Eren when he woke up, Levi set Eren down on the cool floor of the cave and swam out. His instincts berated him and ordered him to go back, but if Eren woke up, then he wouldn’t be able to tear himself away from him and they both needed to eat.

So Levi set off in search of food. Now that he had finally found someone to share his cave with, Levi stepped into the role of the dominant mate – he was responsible for the life of another mer, and it was his duty to provide for his mate with whatever was asked of him, be it food, comfort, love or more. And seeing how hard Levi had worked to finally gain Eren’s approval, he was eager to show just how capable he was.

* * *

Eren was waiting for him when he returned with ten cods in his hand, all dead with slashes across their gills. He was looking frantic, but the sight of Levi brightened him and he launched himself towards Levi at once, hugging him and kissing him like as though his life depended on it. Levi set him back on the cave floor along with the cods and returned the kiss while his hands gently traced the marks of claim he had gifted to Eren.

“I thought… I thought you had left me,” Eren spoke between their kiss. “I woke up here and got scared that you abandoned me and… and –”

“I’m sorry,” Levi quieted him. “I just wanted to get us something to eat. I’m your mate; I’ll never abandon you,”

Eren sniffed, but looked considerably better. He had changed back into his mer form again and his beautiful viridian tail was back along with his soft turquoise fins that bore golden streaks. He eyed Levi’s torso and shoulders before setting his tongue on them.

“What are you doing?”

“You still have sand over here,” Eren nuzzled their noses together and set to work, lapping up at the underside of Levi’s chin. Levi gave in and shifted according to the way Eren wanted him. Eren’s soft hands held him while he groomed Levi, wiping off bits of sand and licking the area before kissing it for good measure. Levi lay limp in his arms and closed his eyes, drinking in being doted on in this way by a mate. He loved how gentle Eren was with him and how he was always at ease around Eren, letting him touch his gills and scent glands without a second’s hesitation. Eren’s locks tickled him whenever he bent. As Eren approached his scent glands and licked them as well, Levi’s chest rumbled and his purrs filled the cave.

Eren chuckled. “You are a big old softie,”

“Shut up,”

He spent a good deal of the dawn grooming Levi and nuzzling into his neck. At last, he pronounced Levi as clean and Levi pulled Eren to sit on his tail, beginning to groom him. He combed through the tangle that was Eren’s fluffy hair and raked it back while kissing all over his face. When it came to his tanned shoulders, he lovingly traced the bites and gave Eren more, but didn’t attempt to indulge in anything else. After biting and leaving more claims until his inner merman was pleased, Levi groomed the rest of him, turning and twisting Eren to his comfort while he worked on his mate’s waist and hips.

Once finished, Levi rubbed his neck over every inch of Eren’s form, crooning when Eren mirrored his actions. Eren squirmed and pushed himself higher to reach Levi’s neck as he nudged him there and mingled their scents. Every nook and cranny of the cave soon smelled like rain and sweet lilies, fresh earth and salty ocean. A deep contentment settled in Levi. This felt so _right_ …

He reached out for a cod and began peeling the edge into thin strips, setting the bones aside and offering the flesh to Eren. Between his chewing, Eren coddled Levi, spreading his scent over him and stole a few kisses. Levi mashed the bones to a slurry and swallowed it. They ate in silence, except for the occasional crunches and Eren’s little croons. Levi made sure Eren ate enough, knowing full well that he had come rushing all the way from the community and hadn’t bothered to eat properly. He didn’t let Eren leave his tail until he was so full, Eren fell back and dozed off. Finding a part of the cave floor that was smoother than the rest, Levi laid Eren down and draped himself on top, curling his tail about so that his mermaid stayed warm. He tossed and turned, but once Levi started licking his glands again, Eren quietly mewed and slept. 

* * *

The rough bristles of a tongue brushing his neck was what awoke Eren. He whined and pushed so that he could be left alone, but Levi didn’t let Eren have his way for once. He nudged Eren with his nose until Eren sighed and let his mate groom him again.

His _mate_. Eren never thought he would ever be able to use those two words together. Even now, he believed this had to be some sort of dream. Levi, the merman who had always been so kind and calm, always so patient and understanding, so strong and confident… the one person Eren had wanted for so long but felt never had a chance with…

And now he was here, bearing Levi’s marks on his body while being fiercely cuddled by him.

Fresh tears flowed down to his chin as he quietly buried his head down and stifled his sobs. After his mum, after his father, after Erwin… he now had Levi to look forward to. Levi was his mate; he would be there for Eren no matter what. He would comfort him, protect him and accept him.

He wasn’t alone anymore. He didn’t have to run anymore. He didn’t have to be afraid.

As the lump in his throat grew to the size of a boulder, Eren failed to stop the sob that escaped his mouth. The result was to be lifted up at once and have his face kissed by the merman whom he loved to pieces. The merman who had accepted him.

And as the realization that merfolk mated for life and once marked, never gave up their partners dawned on Eren, he kissed Levi back.

He was his. Levi was all his now. He didn’t have to worry about other mermaids; Levi had chosen _him_.

* * *

“How many mers know about your secret?” Levi asked him. A quick trip to the surface revealed it was dusk; Eren chewed on the red snappers that Levi had caught for them while sitting on his mate’s tail, both interweaved together.

“Uri and you,” Eren’s face fell as he said those words and his gut twisted horribly. “Shit… Mike too,”

“Mike?”

“I… I exposed myself in my haste to help you,”

Levi didn’t speak, thinking deeply as he snapped the bones of the fish and popped it into his mouth. Eren marvelled at those deadly canines and the way they could tear bones like as though it was seaweed.

“Mike is not a bad merman. I’ve known him ever since I joined the troopers, and that was quite a long time ago,” Levi finally broke the silence. “Nanaba, his mate, is also a respected and rational member of the community… they won’t hurt you Eren,” Levi squeezed his shoulder. “If I can talk to them, maybe they’ll speak for you. I would prefer to keep the number of mers who know about your condition as low as possible, but if Mike knows about this… then he won’t hurt you Eren. He knows me,”

Eren bit into his lip to stop it from quivering. “Levi I’m sorry…” he sniffed. “This mess is my fault,”

He was instantly crushed into a hug. Levi rubbed his neck over and over; the salty scent of the ocean did wonders to soothe Eren who clung to him and willed himself to not cry. But the tears came anyway.  
He hated how his first response was always tears. It made him feel so weak and pathetic. Why couldn’t he be more like Levi? Why did he have to still cry like this?

“Listen to me,” Levi cooed. “Eren, you have no idea how _happy_ it made me when you asked me to mark you last night. I have wanted you for _so_ long… you are the bravest mermaid I have ever known; don’t argue with me on that one. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, so please, don’t apologize and don’t pin the blame on yourself… blame it on the shitheads who got you into this mess in the first place,”

“If something happens to you because of me –”

“Do you trust me?”

“Huh?”

Levi put a hand under his chin and lifted it up tenderly. His stern gaze softened when they landed on him. “Do you trust me?” he asked, his breath dancing on Eren’s lips.

Eren knew there would always be only one answer. “Forever,”

“Then stop worrying and focus on eating more. If there is anything that is your fault, it’s the fact that you never eat much and neglect your body like this,”

Eren slid their lips together. “Feed me then,” he purred, wagging his eyebrows suggestively.

He choked as Levi shoved the red fish down his throat.

* * *

Night had taken over the sky. The moon didn’t spill her light over the beach like she had the night before but the stars twinkled and shone on his mate as he sat beside Eren, who sighed internally; no matter how many times he gazed at Levi, it would never be enough.

Eren could never cease to be amazed by Levi’s unworldly beauty; in the light cast by the twinkling dots above, Levi _glowed_ , appearing more mysterious than he already did. His cheekbones, ever so sharp and jawline were thrown into striking relief, while his sculpted muscles and curves stretched taut over his pale form. The ocean breeze kissed his hair as the silken strands lazily fluttered behind him.

To Eren, Levi was simply radiant. There was so much about him that appealed to Eren, he couldn’t describe it and do justice: his stormy greys, his beautiful midnight blue tail that curled around him, his hooked claws that could rip sharks but also held Eren like he was the most fragile thing in the world, the softness in his eyes that was hidden behind his usual stoic or stern glare – Eren sighed; he had just hopelessly let himself be taken by the merman.

“What are you thinking, oh wise one?”

Eren smiled as he threw some of the sand at Levi. “You are beautiful,” he looked Levi in the eye as he said it, hoping to convey everything he felt and how much he cherished being this wonderful merman’s mate. He expected Levi to smirk and make a witty retort, or say a simple ‘thank you’.

What he didn’t expect was for Levi to knock him into the sand and kiss him like it was their last day in the world. His mate took him in his arms and as Eren relinquished all control, he let himself become Levi’s all over again.

* * *

“Well… you two did take your sweet time,” Eld smirked at them when at last they returned to the three mermen waiting for them in the cave.

“We thought you had forgotten about us,” Gunther snickered.

They all had healed remarkably well, so Levi cleared his throat and announced that they all would be returning back to the community tomorrow and ordered them to rest for the night. But Gunther, Oluo and Eld couldn’t stop stealing glances at Eren’s marks which should have infuriated him and made him tie all of their tails in a knot and toss them off a cavern.

It didn’t. Levi only had pride and contentment swimming in him as the mermen gawked at his beautiful mate. Eren was already asleep, snuggled into his chest.

_He is mine._

Eld caught his eyes and smiled. “Congratulations Levi,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Climbs into bed and wriggles hips* ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I'm so satisfied with this chapter. Now Imma sleep.  
> Guys, I won't be able to update for a while. My final exams are coming up (I'm in tenth grade so this is really important; I'M GONNA GO TO COLLEGE AFTER THIS!!!!)  
> So thank you, thank you to all of you angels who are reading this! I will try my best to update though :)  
> As always, your comments, questions and criticisms are my food. I need them to keep going! I love you all :D <3


	32. The Crystal Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look at the title and guess what happens

The journey back to the mer village took four days.

With the threat of the siren looming over their heads, Levi and his companion troopers had hurried to the shore within a span of a day. But with the siren gone and Eren back with him, Levi decided to take their time. They stopped by caves along the way to rest, Levi stating that too much activity might cause their wounds to open up. Oluo, Gunther, and Eld joked and made an ass of themselves (Eren taught him that phrase and Levi decided he liked it). They caught whatever fish they found in the surroundings and ate, while Gunther always ate crabs. He had a strange affinity for the critters. On the whole, the entire journey was pretty calm and laid back. They didn’t encounter anything particularly dangerous nor did they come across trouble.

Except for Eren.

Levi felt tired just by _looking_ at his mate. With a major part of his fears having been left behind at the shore, Eren burst with renewed energy and never stayed still, endlessly bouncing and swimming from one cave to another. He chased after fish and scared crabs, tied himself up to a boulder while playing with some snappers in seaweeds, scratched himself while looking for clams and oysters in coral beds, weaved little garlands of weed and corals together and placed it on Levi’s head, trilled and chirped excitedly, terrorized Oluo and raced the aqua with Eld and Gunther, his viridian tail glimmering amidst the ocean blue.

Whenever anything caught his eye, Eren would dart off at once and return with a new trinket every now and then – seashells, small crystals, scales, rocks; everything that remotely shined grabbed his attention. Eren gave him these objects and nuzzled his nose before zooming away again. Levi sighed and held on to his gifts, always failing miserably at hiding the fond smile on his face.

He found it tempting one too many times to drag Eren to a cave and fuck him senseless. His instincts were constantly whirling like a thunderstorm, demanding him to actually mate with Eren. Despite being mates, Levi hadn’t bonded with him yet – the only way for them to be recognized as _true_ mates was for them to bear each other’s marks on their scent glands. But Levi wanted it to be a slow and special moment, not to mention, _alone._ Newly marked mers stayed in their cave until they mated for the first time and every mer knew to never disturb them during this crucial period, especially the mermen, who tended to become extra possessive of their mates. And Levi’s mating instincts, freshly awakened from their marking, were furious at him for keeping Eren at such close proximity to three other mermen.

When they slept in caves at night, the subject of Levi’s dreams often happened to be Oluo, Gunther, and Eld screaming in agony while he fed them to a shark.

If it wasn’t for Eren, Levi would have completely surrendered to his beasts within.

Whenever Eren sensed Levi’s emotions spiralling out of control, he would be by his side in an instant, crooning to him and coating Levi in his scent. In caves, Levi squeezed Eren between his tail and chest, keeping him as close as possible while rubbing their scent glands together. He growled when he caught one of the three mermen staring at them and Eren ended up jamming their lips together to shut him up. But none of the physical contacts sated Levi. With the current state of things, he was reduced to only grooming and kissing his mate. It drove him mad. He had woken up more than once with his slit pressed firmly to Eren’s hole, his cock stiff and leaking.

“I want to hurry back,” he grumbled to Eren on the second afternoon as he worked on Eren’s shoulders, his teeth gnawing on the flesh and leaving more marks. “But I can’t risk them. They took on more damage than I did and you said Erwin’s claws poison his victim’s wounds,”

“They don’t poison. They delay the healing,” Eren corrected him, bitterness lacing his tone. “It’s how most of the mermen died – they were unable to heal quickly and made it easier for Erwin to finish them off,” 

Levi’s claws gripped Eren’s waist, but not hard enough to hurt him. “I _want_ you. I want to mate with you Eren,” His claws trembled. The flesh underneath was so tender and soft… he could _sink_ his teeth in –

“Levi,” Eren called softly. Looking down, he saw little dots of red where his claws rested and pulled them back, mortified.

“I’m so sorry! Eren, it was an –” he was quickly silenced by a pair of warm lips over his own. “Levi, I want you too…” Eren whispered. “It hurts; I want to feel your teeth on me again. I want to be _marked_ again,”

Levi grabbed his arm. “We can go find a cave,”

“We need to conserve our strength. I won’t be able to handle it if we were delayed again,” he sighed. “Can you mark me with your scent? It helps,”

“I can never say no to that,”   

They both tried to sort it out as patiently as they could. Eren bit and sucked on Levi’s shoulders to soothe his mood and Levi never ceased to coat Eren in his scent. They never strayed too far from each other and nuzzled and groomed more times than it was necessary. Levi felt feverish with the way his mind and body thirsted for his mermaid’s heat. Even something as simple as Eren eating the cod Levi had captured for him filled him with intense lust to grab his mate and fill him to the brim with his seed.

Eren, however, had problems of his own. His transformation into a human in the middle of his last heat hadn’t ended it; it had simply been postponed. As Eren’s scent grew sweeter and his fins and tail glowed brightly, Levi began recognizing the symptoms and forced Eren to stay by his side. Both of their instincts messed around with their heads, ruling out logic and shunning away reason. He spread his scent over Eren six times a day to keep his mate grounded. He wanted both of them to be secure in his cave back in the mer village before Eren went into a full blown heat.

Eren whined in his sleep, cuddling closer to Levi. He sighed and draped his tail over his mate.

* * *

The third morning of their journey dawned and Levi felt giddy. The waters around them were deep and dark; so dark they were almost black. It was cold and Eren huddled closer to Levi, seeking his mate’s warmth and was readily provided with it. The jagged rocks indicated they were closing in on their destination.

At that point, Levi turned to the others.

“You’ve done well. Incredibly well. If it weren’t for you three, I would have died back there,” 

Oluo and Gunther huffed up their chests importantly. Eld looked pleased as well, but he asked, “Shouldn’t some of the credit go to your mate as well? We killed the siren because of _him_ ,”

Eren turned scarlet at his words and Levi's instincts lurched again. How had he ended up with a mermaid this precious?

“I’ll give him his credit in my own way. Right now, I am grateful to you three for accompanying me there and putting an end to this facade… but if it is alright to ask, can the three of you continue back to the community without us?”

The three mermen looked at each other. Finally, Eld spoke up. “We’ll manage it. All of us have healed completely,”

“Then we part ways for now,” Levi nodded curtly. “Eld, inform Mike of what happened… and tell him that I’m safe and bringing Eren with me,”

“Understood,”

“Stay safe,” Eren told him, quickly throwing his arms around the merman.

Eld stared at him for a while, before he broke out into a smile. “I would say the same, but you have Levi,”

Eren laughed. “You mean this grump here?”

Eld turned to him. “You’ve found a good one,”

“The best one,” Levi corrected him.

Eren flushed again.

* * *

“Why did you ask them to leave?” Eren swam by his side, his hair floating eerily above his face. The darkness made it impossible to see had it not been for the excellent vision that came with being a mer. Levi’s eyes were reliable as usual as he scanned their path for threats while his ears kept vigil. Eren did the same as well, his shoulders tensing whenever he heard a snap or a click. “And… we aren’t going in the direction of the community are we?”

“No. I’m taking you somewhere else,”

“Where?”

Levi simply smiled, but his heart drummed madly. “You’ll see,”

They swam for quite some time, Eren’s hand firmly clasped onto his. Levi navigated them through the cut rocks and weeds while keeping his mate close so that Eren could stay warm.

“Levi?” Eren’s voice came out shrilly, unnaturally high. He turned around at once, alarmed. “Yes?”

Eren was shivering. “Where… where are you taking me?”

“It’s… it’s a place I often visited before I met you,” Levi told him. “I’ve always wanted to show it to you,”

“Oh,”

Levi gazed at him. “Eren?”

He jumped. “Yeah?”

“Are… are you scared?”

There was no hiding the ardent terror in Eren’s scent which now hit Levi so hard he felt like he had been slapped. He drew Eren closer and hugged him, nuzzling their glands together.

“I’ll never hurt you, Eren…” he cooed, understanding why exactly Eren was feeling that way. “I’m not lying. I swear, this isn’t a trap,”

Eren shuddered before hugging him back. “I’m sorry…”

“Shh, you have nothing to apologize for. I know where you’re coming from,”

“I should have moved past this!” Eren dug his claws into him. “I… I know that you accepted me as your mate Levi, so why am I still scared?” he looked up, his eyes tearing up. “Levi, I can’t stop being scared… every time I wake up, I always feel like… like I’m being hunted. I can still feel Erwin’s presence, I can hear him laugh… he mocks me, he tells me that I’m a fool for going with you and…”

Eren hung his head down. “I’m sorry. You’ve done so much for me Levi, and… and this is how I repay you,”

“I don’t care how many times I have to tell you, because I’ll always keep saying it: _none of this is your fault._ If you weren’t even the tiniest bit scared right now, then you would be a gullible idiot. Eren, I know what you have been through. I know how much it has affected you,” Levi kissed his head. “But know this: _I will never hurt you nor let anybody else lay a finger on you,_ ”

Eren nodded with a gulp. “I know. If there is one thing I know for sure, it’s that,”

“Shall we get going then? You’ll like this better than shells,”

Eren nudged him with his elbow. “Nothing will ever replace seashells,”

* * *

They floated in front of a series of jagged rocks carved into the cliff face, its entrance guarded by serrated stones. Weeds danced by and Levi yanked two strands. Eren gaped at the giant fortress-like structure.

“Is this Mount Doom or something?” he asked Levi.

“No. Come on,” he held out his hand and Eren took it. Together, they trod the dark waters and avoiding the rocks, went in.

The inner walls were smooth and glistened. There weren’t any tides, so the entrance chamber wasn’t flooded by sudden rushes of water. But it was still slippery; they both used their claws and gripped the wet stone to move, Levi having one hand firmly holding Eren. The small canal-like structure helped them as they swam along its length, going deep and deeper into the cliff until the path finally curved. Levi looked behind, his heart thumping so loudly, he thought it might jump out of his mouth and into the water. Eren stumbled, but held him and gave him a small smile to indicate he was feeling fine.

Levi propelled himself forwards, maneuvering behind more rocks until a faint glow met his eyes. His chest stopped heaving and he remained rooted to the spot.

_How many times had he dreamt of bringing a mermaid here?_

_How many times had he visited the cave?_

_How long had he waited?_

“Levi?” Eren’s wet claws were on his shoulder. Levi turned to him, his breath hiking up. He had come here all alone, so many times… he had laid here and slept here… but now he wasn’t alone anymore.

A whole new life stood in front of him as he cupped Eren’s cheeks. He had kept this cave a closely guarded secret for so long… waiting for that one mer to share it with… one mer to give his heart to.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered hoarsely. Eren obeyed at once.

Breath bated, from here he moved slowly. His fins pushed the water as he led Eren inside, tails twisting and turning as they kept going until Levi’s webbed hands found solid land. It was a tiny island, made of unevenly cut rocks with blunt edges while the water poured into the cave all around it.

Levi took in the light that the cave cast around them. Then he inhaled.

“Hey. Open up,”

When Eren’s eyes fluttered open hesitantly, Levi quietly hugged him from behind and waited for his reaction.

The crystals that the walls and the ceiling bore cast their dim yet luminous glow all around the blacks of the cave. Pink, purple, indigo and blue shimmered and shone as they danced and glowed on their skin. The water sloshed lazily against his tail and Levi flicked it upwards; the little drops of aqua soared high and glittered like beads of moonlight. He sneaked a glance at Eren.

When Levi had first found the cave, he had considered the light thrown by the crystals to be the most beautiful light in the world. He had imagined bringing a mermaid here a million times and had replayed the scene in his head, playing out their shocked faces frozen in awe while he stood by their side with a smirk.

He had never imagined that _he_ would be the one frozen in awe instead.

Eren’s eyes outshone the crystals just like how they outshone everything else. The oceans that were his eyes swirled around, taking in the reflection of the hues cast by the light. The multi-colored specks of colors on Eren’s shoulders sparkled and rippled, changing their colors from green to blue to golden while the crystals threw his red mating marks into sharper relief. He _glowed_ softly and for a moment, it seemed that _he_ was the one lighting the cave. His fins flapped and fluttered. And his tail – fuck, that _wonderful_ tail – it coruscated brilliantly as the scales flickered in the light, appearing glossier and smoother than they ever had. Levi could only gape at the beauty that sat on the rock.

Eren turned to him, eyes wild and beamed.

How in the name of Nature and whatever she had created had Levi found someone like _this_ for a mate?

“Ok… it’s better than shells,” he threw himself at Levi.

Levi poured out his soul into the kiss as he pinned Eren down on the rock. Eren hugged him back with all the force he could muster and Levi tasted salt as Eren’s tears flooded their mouths. A second later, the tide rose and the ocean rushed into the cave and crashed her cool lips on them as both mers kissed fiercely while their tails braided them together of their own accord – rippled blue with viridian. A heavy gust of his salty breeze whooshed to the air and a second later was instantly joined by fresh earth. Rain and sweet lily nuzzled their noses in greeting as Levi dragged his scent glands over his chosen. Eren immediately surrendered to his touch.

“Levi,” his eyes shone. “Levi, this cave –”

“I found it a long time ago,” Levi kissed his neck. “I kept it a secret until I could find someone worthy – my future mate… and now, I have _you_ ,”

“Me,” Eren repeated in a daze. “Oh, _Levi_ ,”

“ _My_ mate,” Levi purred and inhaled his scent. “Mine and mine only. I want you. I want to love and cherish you for as long as the ocean lets me. I want you to share my nest… I want you by my side and I want to wake up by your side. Eren, I want you to be my mate, truly,”

“You know what the answer is,” tears streaked down his face, but the smile never left Eren. The smile that made Levi’s up whole world.

“I still want to hear it. Say it,”

Eren breathed. “ _Make me yours_ ,”

He pushed himself off Eren and sat up. Eren gave him a puzzled stare before he sat up as well and scooted closer to him. Levi pulled out the seaweed he had taken earlier by the entrance and placed it on the rock. Then he turned to his mermaid and drew him in with a chaste kiss.

Breaking apart, Levi swished his tail and lifted it out of the water, flicking it to shake the droplets off. His tail shone, but not in the way Eren’s did. He curled it about himself and examined it carefully. Streaks of light blue scribbled over the midnight blue scales that made up his tail. His fins folded themselves as he ran a claw along the length of his tail.

Levi loved his tail; it was his pride and joy, his constant companion in the many battles that he had fought. Strong and muscular, yet flexible and light, his tail and deadly fins were a part of him that had always helped him hold his head high and earned his fame as the strongest mer warrior to ever roam the ocean. His claw stopped right at the middle, where one particularly dark scale bore three interweaving ripples of blue. He slid his knuckles over it – smooth and glossy. Eren watched him curiously. Levi peered at him from the corner of his eye and saw him smile back.

He decided then and there that it was worth it. Eren was worth it.

A claw hooked itself around the scale. Levi held his breath and bit his lip harshly in an effort to not scream as his claw sank deeper into his tail.

“LEVI NO!” Eren grabbed his arm and yanked it away, holding on to it firmly. “Levi, don’t you dare!” he snarled.

Levi snatched his hand back. “It’s for you,”

“Levi, I’m not worth that pain!”

“ _Eren_ …” Levi sighed and kissed him. “When will you understand that you are worth more than any pearl or crystal in the ocean?”

“Levi… please don’t. I know how much that hurts – my scales fall off whenever I transform into my human form and –”

“And yet,” Levi kissed him harder, pressing their necks together. “You did it _twice_. For me,”

“Yes. That doesn’t mean you have to do it as well,”

“Why did _you_ do it?”

Eren swallowed. “Because you are my home,”

“And you are my entire world,” Levi reached for the scale without breaking their kiss and dug the claw in again. Eren threw his arms around him and held him close, sending waves of his scent to soothe Levi while he proceeded with his task. His claw sank in deep and deeper as he tried to wedge out the scale. Eren drugged him with his scent while his hands rubbed Levi’s back. Drawing in his strength from Eren’s comfort, Levi winced as his claw pried the scale from his tail. The pain _stung_ and burned. He felt his head swim and lose focus, but Eren’s scent and the warmth of his lips anchored him. With a final scream that shook the crystals from their perch, the scale came out in his claws followed by a stream of blood and his vision turned white. Levi fell to his side and panted heavily, his tail thrashing madly at the abuse.

“Levi,” he heard him call. “Levi, I am right here,”

“I… know,” he wheezed and rolled over, groaning at the wound. His tail hung down, immobile and he offered it a silent apology before he plunged it into the water. He hissed as the cold water fought with the burning hole in his tail. Dipping his hand into the water as well, Levi washed the blood off the scale before bringing it out. He held it to his mouth, positioning it carefully beneath his jagged canine and bit it.

It worked; the scale wasn’t completely damaged, but the needle-like tip of his canine had punched a hole through it. Levi looked around for the seaweed from earlier and used his claws to tear it into a thin strand. Then carefully, he inserted one end of the weed into the hole.

Eren watched him, verklempt with tears as Levi brought the scale close to his throat and secured the plant with a knot behind his neck. He pressed his forehead to Levi’s, who could feel the pain ebbing away at the contact. A tired smile stretched on his face at the dark blue scale resting against the tanned flesh.

“…I have something for you too,” Eren sniffed and he held out his hand.

A shiny turquoise scale with small golden flakes sat innocently on his palm.

“You –?”

“You’re not the only one who would go through that pain for a mate… Levi, there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do for you,”

“… Idiot,” Levi muttered.

Eren chuckled. “Yeah… I… I don’t have teeth like yours though,”

Levi snorted and gently took the scale from him; it was a part of Eren, his beautiful mate, and Levi knew the pain in exchange for which it had been pulled out. He carefully placed it under his tooth and bit it again; using the seaweed from earlier, Eren bound the scale to Levi’s neck and took a deep breath. “…I want to laugh by your side. I want to cry by your side. I want to be by your side… Levi, I want to _live_ by your side,”

“I know. I know,”

“...So will you?”

“…Lie down…”

Eren spread himself out on the rock while the crystals shone on him. Levi draped himself on top and inhaled the sweet lily that he knew would shortly become one with his rainy scent. He combed Eren’s hair back. “Ready? We’ll do it together,”

Eren nodded. “I love you,”

His heart expanded as a cursed lump obscured his throat. Wordlessly, Levi placed his mouth to the source of Eren’s intoxicating scent and waited until he felt Eren’s hot breath dance over his glands and gills. They both were at their most vulnerable, necks barred willingly to expose that one crucial place that determined life or death. When Eren’s eyes met his, he didn’t speak but saw a silent vow swirl in both.

 _I will protect you_.

 “I… I love you too,”

Both mers drew blood at the same time and euphoria took hold of them as teeth clashed with skin and the glands opened up to the chosen. Levi moaned while Eren whined beneath him as they sunk in deeper, leaving their claims on each other’s bodies. A final jet of sweet lily and fresh earth rose to meet rain and salty ocean as both accepted each other and their combined scents inundated the cave. At the same time, Levi’s chest _burned_ and heavenly warmth surged through him as below Eren’s chest glowed, drawing them closer. Levi neither knew nor cared for the reason for the warmth. All he registered was that Eren was here with him and that Eren would always be with him.

 As the tingling on their necks indicated the glands healing, his lips were on Eren’s again, sliding smoothly with hushed tears and whispered promises.

They were now one heart, one flesh, one soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this too cheesy? Idk, I'm tired.  
> This is the last update folks! Yesterday was my last day of tenth grade and I now have a two week holiday for studying. My exams begin on the 7th of March. So I'm gonna update after they are over, which is gonna be sometime around the first week of April.  
> Thank you, thank you, angels, so much for reading my fic! I promise I'll come back in April... so adios until then!!  
> As always, your comments, questions, and criticisms keep me going! I love you all!! <33


	33. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This along with Eren's backstory were the first chapters that I had ever drafted before posting it here... I'm happy that everything happening in the previous chapters all aligned to this one; after Eren's past, this was the hardest for me to write. :D Hope you like it  
> Oh wait, summary: Ahem, Eren and Levi confront Uri. Also, we get a special guest

“Levi let it be,”

Eren rolled his eyes as he watched his mate strangle the squid that had suddenly descended from above and proceeded to molest Levi. Both merman and squid were engaged in a fierce battle and sadly, the squid seemed to be gaining the upper hand: it had slapped Levi eight times with all eight arms. Levi pulled back, face contorted with rage.

His tail thrashed as he tried to wrap it around the creature. It floated out of reach, its arms dancing maniacally in the dark waters. Levi gnashed his teeth together and prepared to swim upwards to beat the shit out of it when Eren, deciding they had had enough, swam over to his merman and pulled him. He raised his scent and forced Levi to smell him. Upon sniffing the scent of heavy disapproval, Levi sighed.

“Fine,” he muttered and turned to the squid. “I’ll fucking cut all your arms and beat you to death with it the next time you come near me,” he swore at the squid and raised his hands, adding more color to his threats in the form of gestures. Eren could sense the squid cackling.  
He tugged on Levi’s arm sluggishly. His stomach was swimming and Eren knew that Levi wouldn’t appreciate it if the cods Levi had caught for him earlier suddenly came right back out.

“Levi, I don’t feel good,” Eren groaned and reached out for his mate’s neck, trying to take in his scent to anchor him. Levi’s attention was on him at once and Eren mewed in approval when his mate spread his scent over him.

“Why?”

“I think I had too much to eat,”

“If you become sick on me, I’ll abandon you here and let the squid become your new mate,” Levi nuzzled his nose.

“Mm. I’ll try not to then,” Eren curled around his merman, sleepily placing his cheek on Levi’s shoulder. “Can we hurry? We’ll be in trouble once we get back to the community and I want to get it done with,” he looked up. “If they don’t want me, I can leave quickly,”

“Nobody is going to make you leave,” Levi tucked him into a ball and swam with Eren squished in his chest. He swam slowly to ensure that Eren didn’t throw up on him. After a while, the dizziness began to falter and his stomach decided to settle down, so Eren persuaded Levi to free him and swim alongside him. Thankfully, they didn’t encounter any more squids as they journeyed back to the mer village. The silence gave him plenty of time to think about what would happen to them once they returned.

If Mike was sensible, he would have alerted the rest of the troopers and strengthened the defense of the village. Eren wondered what Mike was thinking right now – was he panicked? Did he believe Eren had died on his escapade? If Levi didn’t return quickly, would he come after them himself? Or had Mike remained silent about the entire fiasco and instead chosen to confront Levi and him alone?

Eren couldn’t do anything to curb the waves of guilt that riddled him. If something, _anything_ at all happened to Levi as a consequence of his actions, he would never forgive himself. He wasn’t worried about his own life; if this went wrong Levi would be in danger as well. Would he be able to save Levi a second time, that too from the other mers?

Uri would no doubt be furious that Eren had proceeded to bond with Levi and become his mate instead of severing their ties. Would he punish him in some way? Or did the creepy bastard already know what had happened? Eren shuddered at the thought of having his voice echo in his mind again. Would Uri do something to Levi as a means of punishment?

“Stop.”

“Huh?” Eren halted as Levi steered him to face each other. His face was scrunched up nastily.

“You scent… stop it,” Levi shook his head and scowled. “I can’t swim if you flood my nose with that stench,”

“Sorry,” Eren covered his scent glands as his gills worked to supply him with air so that he could calm down. When he was breathing normally again, he removed his hand for Levi to sniff. “Much better,” he said as he took a deep draft and they continued on their way.

“I was just thinking…”

“Stop thinking then.”

Eren tried to keep his scent under control as he and Levi swam together. For the rest of the journey, he let his mind wander over to the mers he wanted to see the most – Armin, Isabel, Mikasa, and Hanji. How would they react to seeing him? He hadn’t even said a proper goodbye or explained why and where he was going. He had just left. Looking back to his escape, Eren berated himself for being so reckless and running away just like that. Levi had asked them all to look out for him and he had just dumped them; how had they felt when they found him missing? And Mike… he had let Mike catch a glimpse of his other form after all the efforts he and his mother had taken to keep his real nature hidden. In terror for Levi’s safety and hatred for Uri’s actions, Eren had completely disregarded the others and arrived at his decisions purely based on impulse.

“ _Eren_ ,” Levi grumbled from ahead.

“Ok, I’ll stop,”

**

He swallowed. His tail swished from nerves and made him tremble from head to fin as he and Levi floated before the tallest series of cliff faces they had ever seen. Dark and ominous, with many a jagged rock here and there ready to tear any creature into pieces while seaweeds drifted about, curled around the rocks and dangling over the cliff face as they concealed what lay behind. Any creature with enough sense would never dare to approach this place situated at the very _bottom_ of the ocean. The waters were black and did well to hide the place. Eren inhaled as his eyes traveled upwards, searching.

The entrance to the mer village: a large diagonal slash right at the center of the cliff face. Thousands of serrated and tinier rocks flocked about the entrance, dreading anyone to come close.

“Hey.” Levi’s hand closed around his and squeezed. “We’ll be fine,” he reassured him.

Eren puffed his chest up and looked at his mate, drinking in the face he loved. Among all that he had lost, Levi was not going to be one of them. He was going to protect and cherish this merman till his last.

“Let’s go,” his voice cracked.

Levi steered him through the rocks carefully, holding him and turning him when required to keep him clear off the rocks. It didn’t prevent Eren from grazing his elbow at one particularly sharp rock. Cursing, he licked the gash; The cut stung and burned, but Eren hardly registered the pain under his fear. As they got closer and closer to the opening, the distribution of rocks grew thinner and made it easier to swim through as they pushed upwards to reach the center. Levi pushed the weeds aside and trod the water as they went inside the huge slash and along the weathered tunnel. When they were almost at the end, Levi stopped Eren; his mersight enabled him to see perfectly despite the black and Levi was frowning at him.

“How did you escape?” he asked. “I brought you till the end of this tunnel and then we both fell over the edge and came out on the other side… but the other side’s entrance is all the way at top of the cliff,”

“You mean that huge hole? I climbed it with my legs… that’s how Mike saw me,”

Levi stared at him. “You _climbed?_ All the way _up_ _there_?”

“Yeah…” Eren said defensively. “I know how to climb; I’ve done it plenty of times before,”

“But… there is another entrance… right at the bottom of the cliff… why the fuck didn’t you use that?”

Eren blinked. “ _What_?”

“There’s another way in, you jellyfish.”    

“… But you first brought me through that hole,” Eren argued. “We fell over the edge of this tunnel and came out on the other side like those slides at the water amusement parks,”

“That… that was just… I wanted to scare you; that’s why I took you in that path,”

“What?”

“I thought the fall would be exciting…” Levi’s tail flicked abashedly. “Most mers use the path at the bottom. I didn’t tell you that?”

“No you didn’t, you dumbass.”

Shit. He could have saved a whole lot of trouble with Mike if he had just known about the other entrance. Groaning and throwing his hands in the air, Eren followed Levi as they swam deeper into the tunnel. Apparently, there was a fork at the end of the tunnel – one end led to the hole through which Eren had climbed from, while the other end was slanted and took them right to the bottom of the cliff.

He was taken through the second path because Levi thought that they would have better chances of surviving if they came out at the bottom than freestyle diving from the top. Surprisingly steep, Eren held onto Levi while the merman dug his claws into the rock wall to guide them down. His stomach churned nervously again and Eren regretted eating all those cods. He expected the troopers to pounce on them the moment they emerged on the other side and to be torn apart at once under the ruckus of being a ‘monster’. Evidently, Levi felt the same way because his grip on Eren was almost bruising and his scent conveyed his uneasiness.

Eren braced himself as they finally left the suffocating tunnel and emerged into the open water. They were back in Trost. His ears spread out and eyes scanned the vicinity for immediate signs of threat. Beside him, Levi’s nostrils flared as they searched for aggressive scents. After about ten minutes of surveying and checking, Levi’s grip relaxed slightly but Eren was still held firmly by his side.

“I can’t make out Mike’s scent… I'm familiar with it and he is definitely not here,” Levi scratched his nose and turned around, checking the cliff face. “There’s nobody around… I can’t detect anything through my ears either and I’m sure they are working fine,” he said. As though to emphasize this, his ears flicked back and forth.

Eren wasn’t having any luck scouring out hidden mers either. Like Levi, his ears didn’t relay anything back to him and there was no pungent scent in the water that harbored violence. Was this a trick of some sorts? Was there an ambush prepared for them further ahead? Eren looked to Levi for guidance. His mate was grim.

“We could go back to my cave… but I’ll be damned if there hasn’t been a trap set up for you,”

“Then what?” Eren bit his lip, forcing his hysteria down. His fingers twitched and he drummed them on his tail to distract himself. “Every mer might be asleep right now…” he gestured vaguely to the surroundings. “If we wait here until everyone wakes up, we might get into bigger trouble,”

Levi crossed his arms and glared at the ocean bed as he looked for a plan while Eren nervously kept vigil. At last, he lifted his head and his jaw was set. “I’ll take you back to my cave,” he told Eren and took his hand. “We’ll avoid the other caves and go from behind; my cave is at the very edge of Trost,”

 _There will be no need for that_.

Eren almost screamed; his tail flicked violently as he spun around in search of the source of the disembodied voice, eyes narrowing in fury at the sight of Uri, face more wrinkled and gaunt than ever. His dirty blonde hair floated above his head like tentacles. His pale eyes were not looking at Eren but at a point behind him.

A vicious snarl erupted out of nowhere and it had Eren’s instincts running haywire, demanding that he make himself small and submit. Uri’s eyes widened a fraction and he tilted his neck, exposing his gills: _submission_.

The action didn’t satisfy Levi as he snarled again and advanced, gripping Eren hard while his scent threatened to choke Eren; the only other scent that had ever possessed this much violence had been Erwin’s and Eren didn’t like Levi’s salty ocean changing into something reminiscent of the siren. He released a whiff of his own to soothe Levi. Taking the hint, his mate stopped snarling but didn’t take his thunderous eyes off Uri’s.

_You are his mate now?_

Eren threw his chest out and floated forward. “Yes,” he bared his neck to throw the markings on his glands to relief. To his surprise, Uri sighed.

_I thought I told you to sever your ties, not make them stronger._

“Didn’t your siren ever tell you how disobedient I am?” Eren growled.

_Yes, he did.  I didn’t expect this… I presume he is dead?_

“You created him, why don’t you tell me?”

 _So he is dead… I didn’t expect this either._ He looked at Eren mournfully.

_If only he hadn’t lost himself to lust and temptation… you two would have been mated by now. You would not have been here… alas, there is someone else who demands to see you…_

“Who?”

_He is here._

At those words, something shifted behind Uri near the weeds. Eren squinted as he tried to make out the figures – two mers, one huge and the other small. They advanced closer and closer until Eren could see them sharply and clearly.  
The bigger mer was a male; his face hard and set, just like the rest of his body. He was scarred _everywhere_ and a deep gouge ran across his right eye. The left was a brilliant, electric blue that was soft and stern at the same time. He gave off an aura of strength and control that appealed to his mermaid and commanded him to bow down. In response, Eren screwed his eyebrows together and straightened himself as much his body allowed him to, absolutely refusing to submit to any mer but his mate. He glowered at the merman – he had to be a merman – and the latter was nonplussed by the defiance.

He sneaked a glance towards the other mer and started. Bright pink tail, honey eyes, and auburn hair –

_Petra._

Levi’s hand clasped his shoulder. “Petra,” he greeted the mermaid curtly.

She smiled at him and to Eren’s surprise, he received one as well. Petra turned to the mer beside her. “He’s the one,” she nodded at Eren.

The blue eye scrutinized him from head to fin, not betraying the mer’s opinions. When he had finished taking in Eren’s form, he looked up to Levi and barred his neck. Levi stiffened and his hold tightened.

“My daughter rushed home to tell me you had finally found a mate, and I had to come to see you at once…” the merman spoke in a raspy voice.

  _Daughter?_ Oh fuck…

“Petra and I met weeks ago… why the delay?”

“Oh,” the merman waved an airy hand about the size of a small boulder. “I had to punish her for sneaking out all the way to the outermost community without my permission… with Trost this close to the shore… you understand why I don’t approve of her being here,”

“Your sister,”

“My sweet, baby sister… _our_ sister,” he gestured to himself and Uri.

“That sod is your brother?” Eren blurted out, gaping at Uri and the merman. If there were two people who looked more like grandparent and grandson than brothers, it was Uri and this mer. He didn’t bother apologizing for his rudeness; Uri didn’t deserve an apology.

Levi cleared his throat. “Eren, this is Rod. The Mer King,”

“Eren, is it?” Rod mused. “A lovely name,”

Eren didn’t know how to reply, so he stayed quiet. He was growing uncomfortable with the way the single blue eye focused so hard on his face and never wavered.

“Petra tells me you took him to your cave despite not being marked yet… is that true Levi?”

“Not true!” Eren defended at once. “I was marked at the time!”

Petra folded her arms and gave Eren an unimpressed look. “By yourself. You disgrace the power of the claws and teeth the mermen possess,” 

Eren froze, horrified. How did _she_ know? “I… Levi didn’t – I was marked!” he retorted furiously.

“I had interrupted you two in the middle of a very intimate act; I could sense Levi’s anger at the disturbance,” Petra reached out for a strand of her floating hair and fidgeted with it. “He would have torn me apart if I hadn’t left you both alone,”

Levi turned to Rod at once. “I assure you, I didn’t violate Eren in any way. It was in the name of his safety,”

“Safety,” Rod repeated, clearly amused. “You took a mermaid to your cave for his safety and proceeded to pleasure him,”

“He had my consent!” Eren added hotly. “I let him take me to his cave! I let him… do stuff,” Eren blew air from his nose which escaped as bubbles in the water as his cheeks boiled.

Rod laughed shortly. “I am not berating your mate. It is impressive how hundreds of mermaids, including my daughter here –” he mussed her ginger hair, “– have tried to court him and he hasn’t succumbed to his instincts once, yet abducted and indulged in you… and now has even claimed you,” his eyes glittered. “It seems to me, you’ve got him wrapped around your finger,”

 “Why are you here?” Levi's asked flatly. “If somebody is going to be punished, then I would like to get on with it,”

Rod broke out into a hearty grin. “In all your years of service, you’ve always been like this… curt and forward. It’s good to see you haven’t changed a bit. Apart from finding yourself a mate, that is…” he glanced at Eren. “I know… what you are,”

Eren felt his heart leap into his mouth and twisted his neck to face Uri so fast he heard the little crack. “You… you swore not to tell anyone!”

 _I never swore anything._ _Only to protect my kin._

He turned back to Rod. “I’ve never caused any harm –”

“He hasn’t tried to pull anything harmful, not once since I met him; he hasn’t hurt anyone nor caused any trouble to the community,” Levi stood over him protectively, his claws out and fins twitching despite laying flat. Eren’s stomach turned to lead as Levi's scent showed signs of aggression - of course, his mating instincts had just woken up; being in close proximity to other mers was bound to rile him up and if Eren didn't turn the situation around, Levi would land in trouble.

“Levi –” Rod began, but he was interrupted at once as Eren barged in. There was no fucking way he was going to let Levi stand against Rod for him and risk his reputation, his honor, his _life_ –

“I stayed at the shore all my life with my mother and never once tried to come back to the mer community. I grew up at the shore, matured there and spent a great deal of my life at the beach,” he explained, trying his hardest to not succumb to tears. To his relief, his voice stayed strong and didn’t waver. “The murders happening at the shore – it was a siren your brother had created to keep me in check. The siren killed passing mermen who tried to court me, but I stayed well out of it. I even aided Levi when he came to the shore investigating these incidents; I lied to him at first, but it was for my safety! Levi later brought me to the mer village and I swear, I didn’t create much inconvenience here! When Uri revealed the circumstances of my birth and the danger Levi was in, I rushed all the way from here to the shore to help Levi defeat the siren! I even brought a crystal so that Levi could kill the bastard; I didn’t do anything wrong and I deserve every fucking chance to live because this is my life damn it, and you CAN’T CONTROL IT! MY MOTHER DID EVERYTHING SHE COULD SO THAT I COULD LIVE, AND I WILL NOT WASTE HER SACRIFICE LIKE THAT!”

Eren fell quiet, breathing hard. His eyes finally decided it was time and angry tears gushed out quickly, merging with the ocean. Levi quietly crooned behind him, moving his neck over Eren’s to scent mark him and soothe him but Eren pushed him away and stood with his chest out as he glowered at Rod. His hands had curled into fists without him knowing and they trembled as Eren opened his mouth.

“I… I will go away if you want me to, but I won’t let you kill me. Or hurt Levi,”

Rod arched his brows. “What makes you think I would want to kill you? Or send you away?”

“…”

“I found Levi had finally gotten himself a mate, after _ages_. So I came here to congratulate him. And that is what I intend to do,” he stated simply.

“… But –”

Rod frowned at him. “When I came here, I found Uri waiting for me. He told me everything about you and everything that had happened to you. Needless to say, I was very angry with my brother,”

Uri turned away as Eren’s breath hitched. “Ang- W-Why would you be angry?”

Rod sighed and pinched his brows. “This whole ordeal gave me a headache. It never would have happened if – ”

_If he had never been born._

Uri’s words echoed sharply in his head and had him feeling hollow. Levi growled at once, snapping his teeth at the blonde mer. Eren lifted his head, tongue lapping over his lips and tasted confusion at the sight of Rod staring daggers at his brother.

“– _if you had told me that Carla was pregnant_. I can’t believe you turned her away and left our sister to suffer at the shore at the hands of a monster,”

“ _What_?” Eren and Levi chorused, their bewildered eyes on Rod instead.

“Why do you think I’ve never let my daughters go near the shore Levi?” Rod asked him in exasperation.

“Because… you said your sister went missing years ago when she went to the shore,” Levi answered mechanically. “You raged for days because the humans had killed her,”

“Yes. Only today, I find out from my little brother that Carla didn’t go missing; she fell for a human, mated with him, had a pup and then died, leaving the child all alone without a proper guardian save for a deranged siren,” Rod massaged his temple in frustration. “Uri turned her away when she beseeched him for his help in order to protect the merfolk… if I had known, I would have taken Carla under protection myself and seen to that she would have safely delivered the pup. Fuck, if I had known that I had a little nephew all alone out there at the shore, I would have rushed there myself and brought you back to the community and given you to a sitter to be raised,” Rod pinched the bridge of his nose. “You look every bit as beautiful as her, Eren.”

When Levi crooned to him again and tried to mark him with his scent, Eren gladly let him. The salty ocean reassured him and helped him breathe as the monstrous lump in his throat forced all words down. Eren gulped.

It _hurt._

“…I… you w-won’t… kill?” he squeaked as his throat tried to burst. Fuck, it _hurt._ Everything _hurt._

“Why would I harm my own kin?” Rod asked. “I was prepared to go to the shore and bring you back the moment Uri told me the truth and offer you a place to stay, but… I was too late,” he beamed. “I can’t believe my luck; my trusted right-hand mer has chosen you for a partner and… it is safe to say you already have a place to stay now,”

The lump in his throat grew bigger and _hurt._

“Uri, what reasons did you have that justified sending our sister away like that?” Rod demanded. “To leave him and Carla all alone, that too with a _siren_ … our kind detest sirens; humans are far more tolerable,”

Uri sighed, his tired face appearing more tired than ever.

 _The merfolk and the communities_ _are protected by ancient magic… a force of nature so powerful it has promoted our existence for this long. I am one of the mers tasked with keeping this force alive… there are other mers too alongside me… why do you think humans haven’t been able to penetrate our lives? It is because I work to keep this world hidden from the prying eyes of humans and other unwanted creatures, sirens included._

_Eren’s existence disturbed this force – half human, half mer, the mating of a mer and a human temporarily shut down the charms around the community; with the unification of both earth and ocean, he made it possible for humans to enter our world – in other words, Eren formed a door… he serves as a connection to our two worlds; a gateway, a window to the other life. I had to tie him to land so that the mer community could remain hidden. And to see that he never wandered back, I created the siren._

_Sirens are vicious creatures; they are born from hate, loss, lies, and lust. They are created from humans who drowned their sorrows and tragedies in the ocean by taking their own life._ _It was easy to find a poor soul who had committed suicide by drowning in a beach to escape from his hateful life. I simply offered a better life – a beautiful mermaid, in exchange for just keeping him away from merfolk and keeping both sides safe. Naturally, Eren turned out to be Carla’s son: rebellious and a spirit that is hard to be held down even if one had eight arms like an octopus… or a squid._

Levi growled again and a muffled chuckle escaped Eren’s blocked throat. But the lump was dissolving steadily as more and more salty air swarmed about his gills. He sniffled once or twice, eyes stinging. His panic and fears finally coming down from their high, his senses sharpened again and exhaustion hit him like a boulder. He hadn’t realized how _tired_ he was. Pressing his nose to Levi’s shoulders, he stifled his sobs and felt Levi’s fingers gently comb his hair.

“Your mate needs rest Levi,” he heard Rod say.

“I’ll take him back to our cave,”

 _Our_ cave…

“You should… with some rest and food, I’m sure he’ll be fine in a couple of days. Dear nature, if he could survive nineteen years at the shore while being chased after by a siren, this must be nothing at all… right, Eren?”

“It still sucks,” he choked.

Rod snorted. “What about the community Uri? I won’t send Eren away; separating two bonded mates is a vile and cruel act but... the safety of the merfolk is my top concern,”

_That depends on Eren… can the humans get down here?_

“No,” Eren replied at once. “They don’t have the technology to withstand the pressure at this level nor do they have the equipment to enable them to see in this darkness,”

_I'm afraid we are not familiar with terms pertaining to the other world._

“Power…” Eren translated. “They don’t have the powers to get down here… and the entrance is hidden pretty well; the rocks around the cliff can shred sharks. Almost all humans believe we are just myths, so there’s not much to worry about

_Are you sure?_

Eren nodded. “Besides, we have the troopers…” he glanced at Levi. “I know they’ll protect us should the need arise,”

“Then it’s settled,” Rod decided. “Levi, I would like you to patrol the area with some troopers for a few more days if something new happens again… Uri, if I find you creating more sirens, I’ll have no other choice but to remove you from the sitters’ fortress,” He told his brother sternly.

_Understood._

Rod looked back at Eren. “Also… Eren, I think it will be best if you keep your… another half a secret.”

“A secret?”

 “The only ones who’ll know about your condition will be me, Uri and Levi –”

“Petra is here too,” Levi pointed out. “And Mike knows as well, Eren exposed himself,”

_Ah… but Mike doesn’t have any recollection of the incident. I made sure of that, and I will see to it that my niece here won’t remember anything either._

Uri’s pale eyes bore into Eren's. They were tinged with a light Eren couldn't decipher and made him appear older than ever. 

“Did you… can you make mers _forget_ about stuff?”

_I can alter their memories. It’s one of the advantages of my powers as an ancient sitter._

“Levi,” Rod said, “Uri will resume his position as a sitter here; the defense of Trost falls on your shoulders.” He took Petra in his arms and Eren caught a glimpse of her face; her eyes had rolled over to the back of her head and her face was slack and dazed. Were her memories being erased? She didn't look like she was in pain, but the out of focus expression evoked concern. Eren hoped she would be alright.

“Levi… you did well. And Eren,” Rod smiled at him – fondly – and said, “The merfolk owe you. This is your place now,”

* * *

Despite his exhaustion and the way his muscles screamed for sleep, Eren couldn’t suppress the giddiness that pulsated in his chest as Levi carefully pushed the curtain of seaweed aside which hid his cave. He was led inside and sighed at the beautiful crystals Levi had shoved into the cave walls to provide light. They were mostly white crystals with the occasional green or blue and couldn’t be compared to the cave Levi had taken him to… yet it was perfect to Eren.

Levi took him to the back of the cave and through the hole that connected the upper chamber and entrance hall. Once they emerged out of the water with loud splashes, Eren shook his head and flicked his ears to help them adjust to being out of the water. He used his arms to climb out of the water and onto the smooth, slippery cave floor. Before he could properly crawl though, he was abruptly picked up by Levi. Eren had never been more thankful for Levi’s strong arms as he was gently placed down on the wonderfully soft and fuzzy moss nest in their cave.

 _Their_ cave… he had never shared a cave before with anyone.

He had been in the cave only once and smiled sleepily at the memory. He wondered what new memories they would create as Levi settled beside him and draped his tail over him.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Home,” Eren said simply before he drifted away, held by warm arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND IT IS DONE! AY!  
> My exams aren't over - I still have two more, but the study gaps for both are outrageously long so I decided to relax a little and take a break (unlike Hamilton) so I posted this.  
> Ok now, the magic protecting the mer community - it's basically a charm that keeps it invisible from human eyes. Like you come over here and stare at the cliff for however long you want, but unless a mer comes and actually shows you the entrance, you won't even know it's there; The magic is just an illusion.  
> We'll have some reunions in the next chapter!!!! Once all that is over though, the story will switch back to Eren and Levi and it'll all be about.... eheheh the super important stuff you guys have been waiting for! So thank you for being so patient with me!!  
> I love you all <3 and also, do drop by the comment section and leave your thoughts please! I could use it after the headache of exams.]  
> A big thank you, again, to all you wonderful angels for reading my fic!!!!


	34. Where I belong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren reunites with Hanji, Isabel and Mikasa and clears things up.

[Click here to see Levi's cave](https://photos.app.goo.gl/7eAPsb9QLADV9sMH8)

Eren woke up to an empty cave. He turned aside, frowning at the absence of his mate and got up. The cave smelled faintly of Levi, but he was nowhere to be seen.  
His attention shifted to his stomach instead. He didn’t feel sick anymore, so his stomach had grown bold enough to growl menacingly and demand food. Eren debated on whether he should go out to catch a few fish or stay back in the cave until Levi returned. He could leave, but he didn’t want to frighten Levi. So Eren opted to wait for a while before setting out in search of his mate.

He dragged himself to the little hollow to rehydrate, scolding his eyes to open. The tides of the ocean rushed into the cave every day so there was no shortage of fresh and cool water to fill the hollow that formed a makeshift pool. He dived in with a loud splash.

Gills opening up as soon as his skin made contact with the ocean, the cold water slapped him wide awake. Viridian tail quivered in excitement at the change in temperature and the familiar element it was adapted to. Eren swam for a couple of lengths to stretch out; then quickly set to the task of cleaning himself. Not that there was much to do – Levi had gone through him during the night. But his hair stood out like a porcupine’s quills so he dunked his head underwater to wet them before attempting to wage war on his messy locks.    

With the knots somewhat loosened up, Eren examined the rest of him, checking for any dirt or injuries that needed tending. His elbow had healed after having accidentally scraped it against one of the sharp rocks at the community’s entrance. Tail worked just fine – it didn’t stop swishing and vibrating. Ears flexed back and forth, relaying the soft dripping of water on rock. The crystals in the cave provided sufficient lighting to look around but there wasn’t much to see except wet stone. Eren sighed and rested on the rock, his tail submerged in the water while his upper half remained on the cave floor.

The cave was so _cool_. Eren had lived in plenty of caves in the past, but none as cool and safe as this. The spacious room and salty scent was an added bonus. He felt proud of Levi for having found such a good home.

As if right on cue, cold arms snaked around his waist and tugged him backward. Barely alarmed, Eren drifted with the flow of the water until he hit the smooth chest. Teeth ghosted over his ears, licking his shell and nibbling on them.

“I didn’t even hear you come in,”

“Thought you might still be asleep,” Levi sighed as he tightened his embrace and promptly squeezed him. “Hungry?”

Eren’s stomach answered the question.

At first glance, it looked like Levi had brought him chopped up bits of Eren’s tail – the fish were the same shade, but some were more green, some bluer. Bright fins were streaked with neon colors and their scales appeared non-existent until a closer look proved otherwise. One thing was certain: Levi had killed them all. A single slash, long and thin, covered their gills. The mark of an expert and deadly predator.

Said expert and deadly predator nuzzled into Eren’s neck. “They’re too brightly colored,” Levi murmured. “Attracts too much attention... but they reminded me of your tail,”

Eren reached out for one and examined it carefully. “This is a queen parrotfish,” he pronounced.

“Hm?”

“I saw this at one of the aquariums Pieck took me to,” Eren turned around to face him. He held up the fish for Levi to see. “Look at these markings on the head… they resemble a crown,”

“What the fuck is a crown?”

“It’s something that human rulers wear on their heads… mostly by kings and queens,”

Levi appeared slightly interested. “Humans have kings too?”

“They do… or at least, used to.” Eren turned the fish over. A series of interweaving streaks of turquoise, green and yellow decorated its head and eyes, roughly resembling a crown. “That’s why they’re called queen parrotfish…”

“Merfolk have better names for them,”

“What?” he asked, opening his mouth wide and biting a huge chunk of the head.

“Fish.” Levi deadpanned. “We have shiny fish, tiny fish, ugly fish, _‘shit that looks nothing like a fish’_ fish, _‘what the fuck is that’_ fish, _‘is this even edible’_ fish, _‘this looks like a seaweed more than a fish’_ fish and my least favorite: _‘that’s not a fish it’s a squid’_ fish. By the time you realize the last one, the squid has already squirted you with ink,”

Eren snorted and seizing the chance, the parrotfish head decided to have its revenge by sticking itself in his throat. One powerful thump on his back had him spitting the head back out. It bounced on the cave floor with a lewd slapping noise and the saliva coated eyes glared at him as if to say ‘take that!’

“That is not a good fish,” he coughed and tried to cleanse his mouth of the taste by drinking some of the ocean water. Unlike humans, the merfolk could drink salt water without serious consequences.

“I see,” Levi grinned and placed his mouth to Eren’s ear. “ _Naughty_ fish,”

Eren choked and went underwater.

* * *

The mer village lay dark and quiet, the merfolk still captive in slumber. Apparently, they’d arrived moments before every mer retired to their caves for the day and slept for only a few hours; the time was impossible to tell this deep in the ocean where everything appeared blacker than octopus ink. But from what he could gather, Eren estimated it had to be sometime after midnight.

Their tails worked silently, moving without causing a single splash or plop. With one hand around Eren’s wrist, Levi led him to the place Eren had been dreading to visit for a while. His stomach twisting into turns and knots, Eren wondered what sort of welcome he would receive from the others. Or would they even welcome him?

After abandoning them in the sitters’ fortress and running away like that without a moment’s notice… they had been tasked with keeping him safe – how had they reacted to his sudden disappearance? Especially Isabel… she had generously extended her hospitality to him only for it to be discarded with his reckless actions.

“Eren, you’re doing it again.”

Eren sighed and adjusted his scent. Levi was taking him to Isabel’s cave where he said the others were waiting for them.  
He had encountered Hanji while out hunting for the fish and she had tried to strangle him with her tail. After much tear-shedding and swearing and promises to kill each other if the incident was to repeat again, Levi had requested her to gather the others in Isabel’s cave while he went to fetch Eren.

If Hanji had actually proceeded to murder Levi, Eren didn’t want to think about what lay in store for him. His gut squirmed frantically as they approached the familiar outline of the rocks that made up Izzy’s home. Small and dome-shaped, a shoal of red snappers guarded the entrance while they fed on a slimy-looking creature – a squid, Eren realized later. Levi shooed the fish away with a swat of his tail and shoved some weeds aside to uncover the entrance of the cave.

“It will be fine,” he assured him and pulled him inside.   

* * *

Eren braced himself as he rose out of the water in the upper chamber of the cave, expecting teeth and fins to tear him apart. What he didn’t expect was to be suddenly pushed back into the water and have death’s hands wrap around his midriff and proceed to squeeze the life out of him like a lemon. The screeches of “YOU’RE BACK, YOU’RE BACK!” split his ear into half; Eren struggled in the water to breathe, arms flailing wildly and tail thrashing to get the mer off him when black spots appeared in his vision.

 _This is it,_ his brain mused and immediately proceeded to compose a dramatic epitaph for him. _Here lies Eren, part mer, part human, accidentally strangled to death. Pathetic excuse for a talking fish man._

“ISABEL, GET BACK!”

There were more hands on him that fought to pull him away. The next second, Eren’s head came out of the water and he gasped madly, swallowing voluminous amounts of salt water and air in the wrong way – the water took the route to his lungs and the air went to his stomach. Shuddering and heaving, he blindly reached out for an anchor when another pair of hands seized him and forced him down on a slippery surface, then abused the shit out of his poor back by repeatedly thwacking him until he retched all the water back out again. Convulsions took over, refusing to release until a blanket of warmth surrounded him. Salt air tickled his nose, the scent comforting and familiar. Eren blinked rapidly to get the water out of his eyes and looked up.

Flaming hair, absolutely untamed as ever and sopping wet, Isabel’s green eyes shone with tears or water, Eren couldn’t tell. She launched herself at Eren again, her tiny claws digging into his hair as she chanted “You’re back,” over and over again, a sob punctuating her words every few seconds.

Eren hugged her back, hands finding her chin and lifting it up to butt their heads together. Crying loudly, Isabel twisted her tail around his middle and he mimicked her, half laughing as he pushed her hair out of his face.         

“You stink,” she blubbered.

No longer under threat, Eren’s glands steadily lowered the distressed scent and reverted back to the usual sweetness of lilies. “Better?” he asked her.

“Yeah,”

Tearing his eyes away from her, he took in the others. Hanji, being restrained effortlessly by Mikasa so that she didn’t jump on him, had a mad glint in her eye but grinned from ear to ear. Mikasa’s thick black tail flicked its fins at him in greeting. Her eyes were worn out, and another pang of guilt hit Eren. The relieved smile he got in return did nothing whatsoever to ease it.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, let go of Isabel and crawled towards Mikasa. Hanji finally broke free from her captor to rush at him, the effort adding to her momentum and sending them crashing to the cave floor. “I’m sorry,” Eren repeated in earnest, his scent once again taking on a distressed tone. Picked up, three bodies slammed him into a hug.

Words were extinguished as their combined scents overwhelmed him, reassuring him that they were all glad to see him, relieved that he was back and safe. Eren poured his own joy at their reunion into his scent, embracing them with all his heart. When they parted, even Mikasa had tear streaks running down her chin. Eren beamed at them all, repressing a few sniffs. The smile vanished quickly though, replaced by a frown.

“Where’s Armin?” he wheeled around, checking to see if the mermaid was tucked away in some dark corner of the cave. Worry gripped him at once when he didn’t find any sign of his excited blue eyes or his long blonde hair. If something had happened to Armin while searching for him…

“He’s in heat,” Mikasa informed him quickly, rubbing her eyes. “He finally agreed to spend it with Jean,”

“He did?” Armin was terrified of the idea of mating and had continually put it off with his mate. Surprisingly, Jean had understood and given him his space, an act that had earned him Eren’s respect. He still didn’t trust him, but as long as he treated Armin well, Eren could live with it. “Ok then,”

Isabel crushed him in another hug, her scent reminiscent of water hawthorn. Peering up with hesitant eyes, she asked in a small voice, “Are we safe now? Have the killings stopped?”

Eren nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He should have been happy for having finally vanquished the one responsible for Farlan’s death, but the victory was a hollow one and filled him with more guilt than anything else.  

“And while we’re on the subject,” Hanji interrupted his inner monologue, her tone stern and business-like. “Mind telling us where to and why you disappeared without so much as a ‘hey I’m going out, I'll be right back’?”

Eren cleared his throat. “Ah…about that,”

* * *

"So it _was_ a siren,” Hanji whistled. “Good thing you reached there in time,” she glanced at Levi apologetically. “I thought they were weakened by daylight… killing at night and all that,”

Levi shrugged. “It made sense to me,”

“So…” Isabel poked at his tail, the scales glistening as the appendage swayed in the water. “You have – what are those things called again?”

“Legs,”

Rod had requested him to keep his condition a secret, but Eren had already made up his mind to reveal himself just to Isabel and the others. Levi, surprised at first, readily approved of his decision. Having Levi’s opinion on the matter asserted that he was making the right choice. Or at least a choice that did not have its roots in impulse and emotional turmoil.

They hadn't reacted as badly as he had hoped. The part about him being the nephew of Rod shook them more than Erwin's demise or him being a human. Recovering from their initial shock, they asked him to show his legs so Eren bit into his hand, welcoming the familiar pain and process. Isabel scooted away in alarm as a dense cover of steam covered the cave. It dissipated quickly, leaving him bare and deprived of his tail, now replaced with two tanned legs. He kicked some of the water at Isabel, who squealed in delight. Hanji and Mikasa gawked at his legs, a maniacal grin breaking out on the brunette’s face, while Mikasa appeared more skeptical. Hanji swum – no, _whirled_ towards him like a hurricane. Levi’s signature glare was back on his face as he eyed her like a hawk, ready to drag her away if she tried anything stupid.

 “So is this what a human looks like?” Hanji’s fingers greedily trailed over his thigh, examining the scales he had on his sides. Her other hand was on his feet, mouth frothing at his toes. She prodded them with her claws, eyes widening comically when Eren wriggled them at her. “Not exactly like this, mind you,” Eren pointed at his toes which had webbing between them. “They don’t have that –” he showed her the scales lining his calves, “– or these –” and his gills and pointed ears, “– or these. Just imagine me completely covered with skin. That is what an average human looks like,”

“Oh,” Hanji examined his scales shakily, her excitement contagious and radiating to every nook and cranny of the cave. She shuddered with barely concealed energy, vibrating at a frequency that could shatter glass. Her gaze traveled to his crotch and froze there, a light crease appearing between her brows.

“You have… a cock?”

Eren flushed madly and squirmed, changing his position to conceal his genitals. “Y-Yeah…”

“Why?” Hanji demanded.

He blinked, mouth slightly falling open. How was he supposed to answer something like _that_?

“What… what do you mean? Am I not supposed to have one?”

Mikasa gave him a look which was not unlike the one Pieck had used when they first met. “You are a mer _maid._ The submissive kind. Mermaids do not have cocks,”

“What?” Eren started, eyes darting from Mikasa to Hanji, who nodded. “Seriously? But then how do you – how are… male and female mers - how do you make them out?”

All mers wore identical expressions of bewilderment. “Can you be more...” Hanji trailed off, a huge question mark stamped on her face.

“The gender of a human is determined by their genitals,” Eren told them. “If you have a cock, you are a male. If you have a vag – a clit, you’re a female. Of course, sometimes there are others who are intermediate,”

It took a while to process this new information. “Intermediate?” Isabel narrowed her eyes. “As in, have both genitals?”

“Yeah… or sometimes, be a male but with a clit or a female with a … Pieck tried to explain all this to me, but I couldn’t wrap it around my head. I got lost,”

“Good, because I don’t give a fuck,” Levi crossed his arms. “Humans can have whatever genitals they want as long as they don’t go around causing trouble in the ocean,”

“So then…” Eren looked at Hanji for help. “How do merfolk determine genders?”

Hanji tilted her neck. “Can you see my gills?” she pointed at two slots on each side of her neck, slightly above her scent glands, four in total. The most delicate and vulnerable part of any mer, be it dominant or submissive. Eren nodded.

“When the pups are born, their gills develop first. Pups with only two pairs of slots are female,” Hanji explained. Eren immediately reached for his own gills, feeling the side of his neck to check how many he had. His claws encountered one, two – four bumps. Four slots on the left and right side of the neck, eight in total.

“Males have four pairs,”

“ _Oh…_ ”

Hanji nodded enthusiastically. “That’s how you know if a pup is male or female – by their gills; but you can only find out if they are a mermaid or a merman when they attain maturity. Genitals have no role in gender determination – they simply decide who’ll be the one to do the fucking and the one who gets fucked,”

Eren snorted again at the description. Hanji had a peculiar way of explaining things that made perfect sense and baffled him at the same time. “So the mermaids get fucked… and the mermen do the fucking,”

“Basically… merfolk don’t pay much attention to gender when it comes to choosing mates – it all depends on whether you are healthy enough to mate and your scent, or your personality… the mermaids can be of either gender, but the mermen… the mermen are usually male,” she said with a glance at Mikasa, who turned away uneasily. “Female mermen do exist,” Hanji added hurriedly. “They’re just… really really _really_ rare,”

“I… I never knew that,”

“Well, now you do,”

Eren gazed at his legs dangling in the water and gave them a little shake. Hanji followed his movements longingly. “I wish I had them too,” she sighed, tapping his knee. He looked up at once, surprised.

“You… y-you don’t think I’m…” Eren swallowed the excess bile in his mouth. “Don’t you think I’m some kind of freak?”

She ogled at him for a solid five minutes before throwing her head back, laughing so hard the cave almost shook. “HA!” Hanji boomed, elbowing him. “I’ve seen worse, believe me. You’re not the first hybrid creature I’ve encountered and I have encountered a _lot_ ,”

“But –”

“Eren,” Levi cut in between. “Maybe we are not as intelligent or as progressive as humans… but I do believe that living with them has filled you with their ideas for a perfect member of society,” he drifted next to Eren and perched his hand on his shoulder, lightly squeezing it. “We are merfolk and so, we are… much simpler. As long as it’s not edible and doesn’t try to harm us, we mers don’t bother it,”

Isabel nodded. “I don’t know what sort of experiences you had on land but you are not a freak. Not by our standards anyway,” she grinned and jerked her had towards Mikasa. “I mean, she is a merman! That is super unusual, like Hanji said. But we still love and annoy her!”

Mikasa groaned and gave Isabel an eye roll. When she looked at Eren however, her gaze softened a little. “I have a cock too.” she wriggled her crotch, making Isabel laugh. “It’s annoying to keep it tucked away whenever I see Annie,”

“You _still_ haven’t marked her?” Levi raised his brows at Mikasa, whose tail flapped and cheeks reddened. “No,” she huffed indignantly.

“The point is,” Hanji waved an airy hand at them, “You have spent so much time with humans and away alone from the community that… you don’t know how your _own_ kind behaves… you don’t know how the merfolk interact and live together, you don’t know how the creatures of the _ocean_ live Eren, because… you lived with the creatures on the land and theirs is the only society you’ve ever known. You don’t know what the merfolk expect, what they see as fine and what they don’t see as fine. You don’t know _merfolk_ Eren,” Hanji eyed him sympathetically.

Eren drank in every word, mind racing. What she said… his hands trembled and he locked them together to stop the shaking. His eyes stung again as each word hit him like a brick – humans pushed away what they couldn’t understand. Anything that came across as remotely strange or different was stuffed into the darkest corner or shunned. What didn’t belong or act fit to their standards was denied a place with them, because it was so much easier to discard it, to pretend that it didn't exist or hate it than go through the effort of understanding it. His mother, no doubt convinced from Uri’s actions that the merfolk wouldn’t accept him, discouraged him from swimming close to the deep waters. And Erwin… well, Erwin’s taunts and abuse offered him further misleading proof that he was not meant to be among them.

Hanji squeezed his thigh. “We belong in the ocean… do you have any idea of how _many_ strange creatures call the ocean their home? Every day the troopers discover newer and more enticing creatures, some too ridiculous to be even called a living being… heck, I almost got killed by seaweeds that turned out to be mating fish. A part mer, part human is the _least_ weird thing I have ever heard of. And there is so _much_ _more_ that inhabit these waters… all these creatures are only a fraction of what the ocean possesses…”

“Merfolk have long learned to adapt to them,” Mikasa supplied. “If they don’t bother us, we don’t bother them. Simple as that. This is the ocean, and the ocean is home to everything that can breathe underwater,”

Levi’s arms caged him again as he pressed his nose to Eren’s cheek. The tears didn’t stop flowing even when his salty scent overpowered his own bitter smell. “If you want to know what a freak looks like, I’ll take you out to show a squid anytime,” he offered, the amusement evident in his tone.

Snorting and choking on his tears, he let Levi join their lips together for a brief moment before pulling away. “We are the creatures of the ocean,” Levi stated firmly. “You have gills and a tail – that makes you as much as an ocean-dweller as any of us, even a fucking crab. If we were to cast away every creature that appeared anything out of the ordinary, the merfolk would have been extinct by now. We co-exist and accept everything that the ocean gives us. Live with it or let the waves drown you and die. The water is where you belong… where we all belong,”

_Son of earth and ocean._

Eren glanced at his scales and the webbing between his toes and fingers. He had always been more mer than human, more ocean than earth. All this while, he had believed he didn’t belong to either – a lone outcast, a disgrace to both species. He didn’t mind being left alone to his devices with nothing but the sun’s rays, the beach and the waves for company… along with Erwin before he turned into a nutcase. But the tides of the ocean had never pushed him away – he was the one who had run. Looking back, Eren realized just how much she had looked after him – providing him with caves to hide in when Erwin’s macabre torments were at its worst and to ride out his heats, teaching him how to hunt for fish and surviving in the wild by himself, sending dolphins and otters to his side when he was in dire need of comfort and amity. She had taken much from him, but also given much in return.

The ocean had always welcomed him. He was a part of her. This was _his_ element.

“Your tail and legs are a part of you,” Levi brushed a lock of his hair away. “They are what make you _Eren_ , and I would much rather have you like this than with multiple tentacles,”

 _I wouldn’t trade them away for anything either._ Despite being labeled as an abomination he had not once cursed his legs – he loved his legs because they were his gateway to the wonderful times he had had with Pieck and a requiem of her kindness. A constant reminder that there was always some good in the world worth living for.

“You belong here.” Isabel took his hand in hers. “I told you once, remember? You’re family,”

The cave seemed brighter somehow as he looked around, taking in everyone who had so quickly managed to carve little rooms in his heart that they claimed for their own – Isabel, grinning widely with red hair wild enough to challenge Eren’s, quiet and stoic Mikasa who resembled a killer dolphin from her black tail to her pale white skin and canines but was more of a mother hen, eccentric and positively terrifying (sometimes) Hanji, the first mer beside Levi who had accepted him and … Armin and his kind smile who had taught him the working of the merfolk and helped him adapt… and _Levi_ , the best of mates and mermen.

_I belong with them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewwo! My exams are ovurrr!!! I couldn't update because I was dealing with the after-effects of high school and had a writer's block.  
> Anyways, new chapter, new college, new name! :D  
> Now, let's get some things straight: I'm NOT the type of author who resolves everything by using the power of friendship, rainbow-magic shit. I'm a sadist and a slut for seeing Eren suffer (sowwy baby). But this is the main reason I began writing deep and deeper: most of you guys believed that mers may not accept Eren for how he is, because humans wouldn't have accepted if something like that happened. And it has happened, in the place where I live and I was pissed off. That's why I wrote this fic. I needed something not human-y. And I was also drunk. Ignore that.  
> The mers can talk and be emotional, but that is where the similarities between us and merfolk end: they are primitive creatures whose basic instincts are to kill, eat, court, claim, bite, mark and mate. And maybe shit. And with the ocean being such a vast and diverse habitat where literally tons of things that make us go 'holy shit wtf is that' live, the mers are used to it. They literally do not care about Eren's condition because "Yo, we've seen worse. This is pretty normal,". For merfolks, gender is not at all important. They don't care. As long as you're nice.  
> Rules of being a person that is mer-friendly: 1. Don't eat me. 2. Don't be a dick. 3. Don't touch my mate.  
> That's all.  
> Anyways, thank you so much for reading my fic! I also have some bad news: I got hit by a new au idea and now I'm working on that too. Curse me head. But I love it. I hope you guys will read it and be invested in it as much as you are with this! I love you all!!! <3  
> As usual, comments, criticisms and questions are always welcome!!!!!!! :D


	35. A Gift In Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A teaspoon of angst and another teaspoon of smut is very good for the health.

Being a half human, half mermaid had its pros and cons. The pros included being able to run on land, the hot and rough sandy grains sticking to your feet soles and between your toes whilst also being able to swim underwater and feel the chill of the ocean’s waves.

There was nothing Eren loved more than race dolphins and otters to the nearest caves, open clams with them, scare shoals of fish and explore the depths of the aqua for new shells. At the end of the day, he just had to come back up to the surface to bask in the warm kisses of the setting sun and the friendly caresses of the evening breeze.

And the cons… well, there were many. For example, the misfortune of having your mate as a merman who simply wouldn’t leave your arse alone.

“ _Levi_ ,” Eren grumbled, jerking his hips away. “Stop it.”

After bidding the others goodbye so that they could all get some rest, Levi had to drag Eren back to their cave because he had chosen to fall asleep halfway through the journey. Once back in the safety of the cool rock walls, however, Levi absolutely refused to let him sleep.

Eren still hadn’t transformed back into a mer and so, it provided the perfect opportunity to “study his body carefully for research purposes” – except, Levi simply kept poking his ass.

Eren wanted to  _sleep_. And his stupid mate wasn’t going to give him some peace anytime soon.

“They’re squishy…” Levi’s amused voice carried to him, cracking under the strain of controlling his laughter. “Like, really squishy…”

“Shut up and let me sleep,”

Another poke.

Eren violently twisted over to his side at once, rolling atop the merman and pinning him down to place by using his legs. Levi looked stunned and a small smirk spread across his face. “Does that rile you up? Poor little mer, all aroused and with no one to help sate him,”

“Oh, I can sate myself perfectly fine without anyone’s help,”

“Really?”

“Believe me, merman. I don’t need you to help ease my libido,” Eren rolled back on his belly again, bending his knees and curling up in a fetal position so that he could conserve some body heat. A soft rustling of fins followed suit and a heavy weight draped itself atop him. Salty air cheekily waved at his nose.

“Warm?” Levi whispered into his ear.

“Mm,”

“So you  _do_  need me,”

Eren opened his eyes. Levi’s smirk had grown wider.

“I could replace you with a fucking toaster, you know that?”

“No, I don’t. But it’s not every day that I get to see my mate with legs,” Levi pushed himself to a sitting position. Without any prior warning, he seized Eren by his thighs and harshly yanked him. Ignoring Eren’s shrieks, he made Eren sit on his tail.

“Levi!” Eren groaned, slipping on the wet midnight blue scales. “Levi, I want to sleep!”

“After I have some fun,” Levi told him with a tilted head. “Unlike you, I do need my mate to help ease my amorous outbursts,”

Levi lowered him back to the moss carefully, claws retracted to avoid scratching Eren’s scalp. Despite his irritation, fondness washed over him for his mate – Levi was always so careful with him.

“Hey, I’m not a flower. Do what you want,”

Something flashed in Levi’s stormy eyes. “If I did what I want, you wouldn’t be here right now,”

Goosebumps assaulted Eren.  _Ooh,_  he liked this version of Levi.

“Really?” Eren cocked an eyebrow, the need to sleep having vanished into thin air. “What did you want to do?”

 Levi turned somber. “Bite you. Mark you. Claim you,”

“You’ve already done that,” Eren reminded him.

Levi squeezed Eren’s thighs with a small smile. “I’m glad that I waited…”

Eyes that had been playful and teasing only a moment ago now were laced with an unexplainable sorrow. Levi’s scent had also lost its sharpness. Concerned, Eren righted himself and scooted closer to his mate. He placed his mouth on Levi’s glands, right above the mating mark he had given to Levi and licked it. The tangy taste of citrus greeted his tongue. Levi shuddered under his touch and leaned into him, his own tongue mirroring Eren’s actions.

“I… I wanted to mark you from the moment we met,” Levi revealed. “It was horrible; I couldn’t stop thinking about it and there were times when I almost did lose myself to my instincts. But I held back because you didn’t want it. Because you asked me to give you some time. If I had… if I hadn’t restrained myself Eren…” he looked up, expression so miserable that it woke a wretched lump in Eren’s throat.

“You would have left,” he whispered. “You would have thought I was the same as Erwin. You would have left and that would have fucking undone me,”

Eren fought against the stupid lump with all he had; his throat burned. His glands released a strong gust of sweet lily that formed a blanket around Levi at once. Levi had always offered him comfort. He had always held his arms open for Eren to stumble into, tired and distressed. Levi was always there.

It was Eren’s turn.

He brought their noses together in a firm but soft nuzzle. Levi didn’t cry; he never did. But Eren knew he had the same horrible lump obscuring his windpipe so Eren scent marked his mate. Rubbing his glands everywhere to spread a part of him over Levi, Eren added kisses and bites along the way, nibbling gently and licking each mark after. The merman stayed slack, letting Eren do his bit.

“Levi,” Eren crooned to him, nudging his cheek. “Listen to me. You don’t have to hold yourself back anymore,”

“Easy for you to say,”

“No. Not anymore,” Eren pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Please. You have done  _enough_  to prove yourself. I trust you with my entire heart, body, and will. I don’t want you to hold back; I will accept whatever you give me Levi,” Eren promised, pouring all his love and sincerity into his words.

Levi lifted his head to butt it gently with Eren’s.

“You don’t want me to hold back?” he asked, a knuckle trailing over tan cheeks.

“No,” Eren affirmed. “I trust you to know when you cross the line. I trust you to know that you will not hurt me deliberately. I trust you, Levi. I always have,”

_You’ve given me so much._

Levi breathed loudly, a divine beauty amidst the blue glow that the crystals of his cave emanated. His scent changed – from ache, it took on a more relaxed fragrance with nervous undertones. Eren was learning how to tell Levi’s moods by his scent alone with many errors along the way. He sniffed once again, hoping that he had deciphered him correctly.

“Levi, are you alright?” Eren sniffed his neck, searching for the source of his nervousness. What on earth did Levi have to be nervous about?

“Hey,” Levi tapped his cheek. “There’s something I want to ask of you,”

“Anything,” Eren replied at once.  _Anything at all._

Levi studied him intently. Taking a deep breath, he said, “You will be going into heat soon,”

Shit. Eren had forgotten about his heat but perked up at the prospect of no longer having to desperately hunt for caves that secluded him from Erwin and other passing mers. He could spend it here, in his  _home_ , he thought jubilantly. With his mate to protect him and take care of him.

“What of it?”

Pink tongue darted out, moistening Levi’s perfect lips. “How do you want to spend it?”

“What do you mean?”

“As in… do you want me to leave you alone or do you want me to… stay with you?”

“Stay with me of course,” Eren answered without skipping a beat. Why wouldn’t he want Levi with him?

“Eren. Do you know what that means?”

“That I get to boss you around while I sleep here?” Eren wagged his brows and earned a smack on his thigh.

“You already do that,” Levi sighed without any real begrudging behind it. “No, I meant… Eren, now that you’re my mate, your body will undergo changes…” he pursed his lips.

What did that mean?

Noting his confusion, Levi explained, “It means that…your heat will prepare you to…” he faltered.

Eren frowned at him, still unable to follow. Levi stared expectantly, willing him to understand.

Then it clicked.

_Oh. OH._

His neck heated up and like a chain reaction, the affection spread up his chin and colored him from his cheeks till the tips of his pointed ears. Eren had never felt this conscious of the distance between him and Levi before – they were pressed in together so closely. He could feel the steady thrums of life beat behind the pale chest.

“Eren,” Levi said quickly, “Understand that I will not force you to do an –”

“I want to spend it with you,” 

Levi’s mouth dropped open by a fraction. Recovering quickly with a few blinks, his eyes shone. “You want to spend it with me? Eren, I won’t be able to control myself if I smell you in a heat,”

“I don’t want you to,” Eren said simply. “I want you to do what you want,”

Each and every word that came out of Eren hastened Levi’s breathing, his chest rising and falling with sharp quick movements. “Eren,” he whispered shakily. “That means I’ll  _mate_ with you,”

The whole concept of mating was one Eren had held in bitter regard. Erwin’s actions had convinced him that to be a mate was to be nothing but an object to another mer, a pretty object for that mer to shove their cock into and fuck him bloody. And Eren never wanted anything to do with mating. He had vowed to not become another mer’s toy or anyone’s toy. He wasn’t going to sit and bear pups after a mer used him for his pleasures, only to repeat the cycle again.

Levi had taken every one of these false notions Eren had had and shattered them, one by one. The mermen were cruel and dangerous creatures – Levi was the kindest and gentlest merman he had ever met. The mers would never accept or let him stay alive – Levi had been the first to do so. A mate would forever see him as a trinket to own among his collections – Levi treated him as a fellow mer and a person, complete with respect and dignity. If there was anything Eren had learned from his entire journey that had landed him here, it was that Levi deserved every ounce of the care and joy he had offered to a mess of a mermaid like him.

“I want to give something back to you,” Eren told him, “Do you know how I felt when you accepted me for what I was Levi?”

When Levi shook his head, Eren continued, “I felt  _alive_. I felt a million pounds of weight slide off my shoulders to sink into the ocean and never come back again. I felt  _free._  It was the best feeling in the world – to finally realize that I no longer had to keep running away because I had  _you_. I had a  _home_. That was worth more to me than any pearl or shell in the ocean. It was the greatest gift I had ever received. And I want to make you feel the same way, so I’ll do whatever you ask of me,”

The storm had abated in grey irises, their place taken by the soft glow of the moon when night draped her dark veil over the world. “You’ll mate with me then?”

“I gladly will," Eren cupped his cheeks. "I’ll... I'll give you a family to come home to,” he promised.

Levi pressed his lips together, silent gratitude swimming in his eyes. Once again lowering Eren down to the moss bed, he rearranged the stray wisps of hair away from his face. Then Levi bent down, propping his weight on elbows to avoid crushing Eren. Lips met in slow, loving kisses while chests rubbed in balanced harmony. Eren sought for Levi’s glands, fingers tracing and circling the bonding mark he had left on the snowy skin. It was what connected him to Levi and he always had to feel it, to reassure himself that Levi was still there and not just a desperate dream Eren had cooked up.

Levi squeezed his thighs, driving away the dissenting thoughts. Hands roamed further up, tickling the region around the scales on his hips and arousing shivers from the contact. His cock pulsed.

His mate was quick to understand and act. Slender fingers skimmed over to the growing erection and held him tight, giving a swift squeeze.

“Mm,” Eren encouraged, scorching heat swirling in his crotch. He invited the merman to do more.

“Like how we did that night on the beach?”

“Exactly like how we did that night on the beach,”

Their kiss was broken by a light chuckle from Levi. Eren rolled over again, planting his elbows firmly into the moss bed while he lifted his hips up. Levi crawled atop him, placing more kisses over his back and neck whilst his tail curled over both legs. Eren felt the bulge of Levi’s cock press on his butt cheeks which were coaxed apart by eager hands.

“Ready?” Levi asked him, giving his length another pump. Eren bucked his hips in retaliation.

“Do it,”

The slick that the protective pouch generated let Levi slip inside Eren as easily as if he were putting on a sock. Eren sucked his breath and panted harshly, crying out Levi’s name with zest every time the merman thrust. He pulled Eren’s hips with each lunge, wet slaps bouncing off the cave walls. Levi adorned his back with new marks, claws digging firmly into his arse.

A sharp shriek announced Eren’s release as his crotch boiled and he came all over the moss bed. Levi came inside him minutes later and rode out the rest of his orgasm, slowly pulling out his deflated cock once he had had enough. He slumped over Eren who turned at once to pull Levi into a hug. Rather than submit to Eren’s demand for cuddling, Levi twisted aside and plunged into the little hollow of water, pulling Eren with him.

The cool water splashed on their gills. Eren’s ears flicked happily, approving the idea of spending the bliss of their post-orgasm in the cold water. Levi nuzzled into his neck with a few licks and bites, sighing in content.

“I like doing that with you,”

“Mm, I like it too,”

Stealing another chaste kiss from him, Eren wrapped his legs around Levi’s tail. “Can I sleep now?”

Levi kissed his forehead. “I’m still gonna play with your butt though. I like that as well,”

Eren laughed and let himself be turned around so that Levi could do as he liked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO! Ok, I've been gone away for too long and yes, I know you guys have been patiently waiting for the update and for me to finish my stupid revision; I just reread the earlier chapters and vomited at how crappy my writing was, so I just had to edit it. Now:  
> 1\. None of the major plotlines have been changed. The story is the exact, same one as it used to be when you first read it.  
> 2\. I've only changed the sentences and the grammar. I've also added some new, extra scenes (the overall story does not change)  
> 3\. Chapters 1 - 14 should be reread if you guys want the clear version; if you want to continue reading it from here, no problem. I repeat, the story hasn't been changed.  
> 4\. Chapters which used to be 11 and 12 earlier got split because they were too long. These are currently chapters 11, 12, 13 and 14. Now, rereading chapter 11 is a must because it is a new chapter and it has some new information about merfolk (again, the overall story hasn't been changed)  
> 5\. Once I finish with my revision, I will update as usual. Also, the future chapters are all ready to be updated here, but I desperately want to finish editing this fic before I give you new chapters.  
> So please, please stay patient! This is my first time writing a multi-chaptered fic for the ereri fandom which is why a lot of errors are obviously expected; I want to correct them as soon as possible, and that is why I'm revising this fic. If you reread everything from the beginning, I'll really appreciate that! It's perfectly fine to just continue from here, but you have to read chapter 11. That one is new.  
> Thank you, thank you so much for being patient! Please don't hesitate to ask any doubts or confusions that you may have!


	36. Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mates prepare for Eren's heat

The morning after, Eren woke up to an empty cave.

Longing for the warmth of his mate’s heavy body, Eren pushed himself to sit up and winced immediately when pain shot up his thighs. True to his word, Levi hadn’t refrained himself the previous night and had left Eren’s arse and thighs in a sorry state after he had extracted his share of pleasure.

Eren followed the trail of lovebites Levi had left for him along his inner thighs and hips. Shaking his head with a smile, he crawled over to the little hollow of water for a much needed cleanse. Diving in, his gills woke up at once to supply fresh and cool air to the rest of him. Eren kicked his legs in the water, making cyclic motions and swam a couple of lengths to hydrate his glands and gills. Breaching the surface with a loud splash, he wriggled his head from side to side to shake the excess droplets. The ocean regularly washed the insides of the cave with her tides, taking out the tainted water and refreshing the hollow.

Bits of dried semen caked the insides of his thighs and calves so he opted to wash that out first. Once he was done, he raised his hand to his mouth and punctured the skin with his canines.

Eren hated the pain that he had to pay as the price for returning to his mer form but could do little apart from bear it. Biting into his bottom lip to push down a cry of pain, he sat through the familiar sensation of legs fusing into one long muscular appendage while scales steadily grew on top. Eren dived into the water to escape the steam that came with his transformation and bid his time in the hollow, waiting for the cave’s atmosphere to clear.

Once the steam dissipated, he rose to the surface again and pulled himself out of the water to sit on the edge of the cave floor. The turquoise tail glittered vibrantly underneath the dull glow the crystals cast, the golden fins at the end marked with delicate green-blue veins. He lowered his tail in the water before flicking it upwards, watching beads of water glisten like pearls as they soared high above him.

He dived again, delighting himself with the increased flexibility and dexterity the tail granted him. It curled and unfurled upon his command and could twist into any position he willed it to. Eren couldn’t decide which form he preferred – human or mer; both had their benefits and limitations.

In the end, legs or tail – they didn’t matter to Eren. As long as he was allowed to live freely.

He checked the scales around his waist where the descent to the appendage began, twisting and turning to see if they or his fins had gathered any damages; not that they would have been visible – mers healed faster than humans did and something as minor as a broken fin took only seconds to heal.

Coming back to the surface, Eren laid down on the wet rock with only his tail submerged in the water. It would take a while for Levi to return – maybe he was hunting or with the troopers. It wouldn’t do to leave the cave without telling Levi about his whereabouts lest he wanted the merman to panic after him again.

Eren settled for a nap. His eyes readily closed, the blanket that was the comfort of knowing he was in his home wrapping around him.

* * *

 

Eren woke up abruptly to a foreign object raking over his cheeks. His senses launched into hyperdrive, blaring warning signals in his head. He blinked in a panic, trying to roll aside to get away from the creature but was prevented from movement by a heavy mass atop his tail. An alarmed chirp came out of him, claws scraping the stone in an attempt to escape the intruder. It was not until salty breeze waved at his nose did every muscle in his body slacken in relief and he sighed.

“Hello,” Levi murmured into his ear and licked him there. Eren wriggled his tail so as to face him, meeting a pair of steely grey irises that were softened around the edges.

“Where were you?” Eren asked, allowing Levi to lick him all over his face. He closed his left eye when Levi bathed him there and turned his face, repeating when Levi went for the other side.

“Gathering food. We’ll have to hoard it,” Levi nudged his nose.

“Why?”

“Because you are a glutton,” Levi smirked when Eren flicked a finger against his forehead. “Alright, it’s because of your heat. We both will be nuts once your heat begins and I will not leave you alone in this cave to go hunt for food. You’d be an irresistible magnet for every merman in the ocean. Hanji told me heats last for a week; dreadful,”

“I know,” Eren pulled a face. “They are the worst. I had to look for caves at the deepest depths of the ocean that were well- hidden from predators and Erwin…” Eren turned his face aside to let Levi bite his neck. Levi was very fond of giving him new marks.

“I had to bite my hand to stop my moans; otherwise it would have alerted Erwin to me. Sometimes I transformed into a human to escape them but after skipping out on five heats in a row, I grew severely ill and couldn’t even move my tail,” he gasped as a sharp canine grazed the front of his neck just above his glands. Levi caught a stretch of skin with his teeth and gnawed on it, audience to more lewd intakes of breath.

“You’re home,” Levi told him between his marking ritual, “You don’t have to be afraid; I want to hear you when we mate,” he tugged harder on the skin, tongue darting out to steal a quick taste before teeth scratched him again. “I want to hear  _each_  and  _every_  sound you make when I fuck you,” he whispered, voice smoky. “Understood? I won’t hold myself back. I don’t want you to do so either,”

“Yeah… ok, Unde–  _ah_!”

* * *

 

A readily accepted routine fell into place over the course of the next few days. Eren and Levi darted in and about the cave, preparing supplies for Eren’s heat.

Eren searched for and gathered moss and seaweeds which he brought back to their cave. He weaved them into a nest, tying the strands of weeds together and toning them with the fluffy moss to create a large velvety blanket of green. He twined more and more of the plants together, determined to make a bed large enough for him, Levi and… the lives that would join them soon. Bursts of daydreams and splashes of giddiness interrupted his task of building a nest and Eren lay on the cave floor, tail happily swishing while he squealed madly, excited about the new turn his life was about to take. 

Levi shouldered the duty of the dominant mate excellently; he brought in shrimps and fish, effectively disabling them to prevent their escape, and stored them in the little cavity carved into one corner of the cave floor that was full of water, like a miniature aquarium. At Eren’s ardent request, Levi found them clams as well.

With Eren now being freely allowed to leave the cave and visit the village to frolic about with Mikasa and Isabel (Mikasa informed him that Armin was still in heat and Jean refused to let any mer get close to him), both mates gave a soft trill to announce their arrival back home. Levi often entered stealthily, preferring to suddenly spook him and wrestle him to the cave floor for kisses and bites. When Eren was finally released from his grasp, a dozen teeth marks decorated his arms and his lips were heavily swollen.

They both rubbed their necks over the cave walls, coating the smooth rock in their scents and pheromones, the symmetry of sweet lily and salty breeze defining the paradise the two mates called ‘home’. Eren returned earlier than Levi, so he curled up on his growing nest to conserve strength. He would later be woken up by Levi who fed him with the choicest of fish that Hanji recommended to help him endure his heat. Once he was done with his share, Levi ate the rest and blanketed Eren to keep him warm while they slept.    

Much to Levi’s surprise and pride, Eren had decided to enlist with the scroungers to assist them in gathering food for the mers. He joined Nanaba, Marco, and Mina as they hunted in groups of five with four members in a group, stealthily swimming in the inky depths of the ocean while using caves and large rocks as their hideouts.

Nanaba, a beautiful mermaid with a lavender tail who was as composed and calm as Levi (but with considerably fewer intentions to murder someone), cut through the currents with ease as she led the other mers to crags and broken cliffs. Armed with sufficient knowledge on the best places to capture fish from because of his experiences at the shore, Eren led the scroungers around coral beds and haunts of seaweeds, explaining which fish preferred what diet and the best way to lure them to a trap.

Cods, with their three distinct dorsal fins which helped them to outmaneuver mers with ease, revealed their weakness in the form of lobster pods. Marco’s sharp eyes uncovered the red critters among large crags where most cods floated about for feeding. Mina and Eren zoomed around, herding the fish up. The next second, Nanaba would strike with her seaweed nets, more precise and sharper than a lightning bolt.

Wahoos posed great difficulties for the mers to capture; they were aggressive and didn’t hesitate to try and take a bite out of them; during one particular hunting expedition, a merman, Berthodlt, had run rampant shrieking and cursing for the entire world to hear with a gleeful wahoo clinging to his fins. Eren and Marco had beaten the fish with rocks to detach it from Bertholdt’s fins and from then onwards, Bertholdt absolutely refused to go anywhere near them, preferring to collect seaweeds instead.

The fish Eren identified as bluefin tunas were the most troublesome of the lot. The bastards were one of the fastest swimmers the ocean boasted of and almost impossible to catch. Not one to be outdone however, Eren hunted relentlessly for squids that he knew were their favorites to lure them into a trap. When he returned back to his cave, he found it challenging to explain to Levi why his face and hands were smudged with ink.

Isabel’s jealousy at Eren being accepted into the team of foragers knew no bounds and she sometimes refused to talk to him.

“I want to join too!” she would complain during his daily visits. “But they won’t let me because apparently, I’m too ‘rowdy’! I SWIM FAST AND I AM STRONG! IF THEY WON'T LET ME JOIN, I WILL SHOW THEM HOW  _ROWDY_ I CAN GET!”

“You show them alright,” Eren cooed, shoving a salmon into her mouth.

He did take up the issue with Nanaba, the head of the foragers. Eren defended and praised Isabel in every way he could to get her to work with them, even stating that he’d personally take responsibility for her and teach her his skills. However, he had to grudgingly agree with Nanaba’s hesitancy to accept her – like she pointed out, the problem with Isabel wasn’t her strength, rather her  _energy_. She was permanently set to vibrate and her sudden zealous outbursts would terrify the prey away.

“She’s clumsy and loud,” Nanaba told him. “I know she wants to join us and I will readily take in any enthusiastic mer, but Isabel is a tad too enthusiastic. She needs to learn to stalk quietly, to strike fast and sharpen her movements. I can’t let her join until she can at least shut up for about half an hour without making even a squeak. I could make her gather seaweed, but that would only spur her to do anything  _but_  get the weeds,”

“What if I trained her?” Eren asked. “I could take her away to a secluded spot and teach her. When she’s deemed skilled enough, could you take her in then?”

Nanaba mused on his words, considering the offer. “If you can tame – I mean,  _train_  her, then yes. We can include her in our expeditions,”

Later that night, when he relayed Nanaba’s exact words and his idea to Isabel in her cave, she stared at him with wide eyes.

“I fucking love you, do you know that?”

Eren grinned slyly. “That’s not what you were saying last week,”

“Never mind, I still hate you,” Isabel jumped on him and proceeded to break his spine.

* * *

 

If the superfluity of fish in the ocean wasn’t enough, little prawns, clams, whelks, horseshoe crabs, kelp and dulse, shrimps and other mollusks all found their way into the diet of the merfolk. Not all of the scrounging mers were engaged in capturing fish; mers who lacked skills in chasing and killing went about to amass aquatic flora for both consumption and for weaving their nets.

Nanaba complained humorously that Eren’s presence among the foragers had diminished their capabilities – when Eren raced in the water after squids and crabs, soaring high above them all with his gracile tail shimmering and golden fins cheekily flickering back, the mers stopped to stare and gawk in awe. His sharp twists and turns, sublime stalking, keen senses that alerted the foraging mers at once if he detected predators like sharks or large octopi nearby, exceptional skills when it came to finding caves and weathered cliff faces to hide in – all these outdid the other mers who had been training hard since younglings. Yet surprisingly, none of them bore him any ill will; they agreed that their overall fish haul had increased significantly since his arrival.

Though pride coursed in Eren whenever his hunting skills were complimented on, bitterness lay veiled behind – when you were a lone mermaid at the shore with a brutish siren at your heels, learning to swim fast, finding large and sheltered caves, foraging for food during heats without alerting sharks or the siren to your presence, sleeping lightly with your ears and nose out on constant watch, escaping from predators – all became a part of the long run of survival. He didn’t have any other option; Eren had to learn, master them of all if he were to continue living with his dignity intact.

Eren caught shy glimpses the unmated merman sent his way, making his hand jump to his scent glands to check whether Levi’s mark was still there. When two of them approached him with mixed amounts of eager and nervous energy, Eren politely showed them his mating marks. Mikasa had been right when she had said that everyone would be able to identify which merman had claimed him.

They never dared to approach him again.

When Eren recounted the tale to Levi that night in their cave, his mate’s only reaction was to immediately pin him to their moss nest and gift him with another pronounced mark on his scent glands.

It felt so  _right_  to have Levi bite him there again and again. It felt so  _right_  to have his skin breached by Levi’s serrated canines. It felt so  _right_  when Levi growled  _“You’re mine,”_  into his ear.

Levi felt so  _right._  

News traveled to every nook and cranny of the village and now every mer knew that Levi,  _the_ Levi of the troopers had finally claimed a mermaid for his mate. Everywhere Eren went, he was the subject of much gossiping and stares, the same conversation replaying in his head so many times Eren could repeat it by heart – the only mermaid to ever have caught Levi’s eye and the only mermaid to have ever succeeded in wooing the greatest mer warrior in the ocean. Heads whipped around when he swam by, whispers followed behind, rustling his fins and eyes surveyed him with the fascination of children. He was known as ‘Levi’s mate’ in Trost now.

“Don’t you find it tiring?” Mina asked him during one of their hunts. “Being with Levi? Personally, I would have been terrified of being his mate… don’t you get fed up or scared?”

Eren glanced down at the seahorse that had chosen to cuddle up to the warmth of his palm. Smiling fondly whilst he stroked its coronet with a finger, Eren said, “I’ve never once felt that way,”

When he returned home –  _home, home, home,_ his heart chanted with great felicity every time he approached the ginormous pile of misshapen rocks – Eren drank in the combined scents which always aroused an accursed lump in his throat. He had never returned to the same cave more than once, never stayed in a cave that so  _fiercely_ guaranteed him safety and comfort.

He slept in his nest, dried tear streaks staining his cheeks.

* * *

 

The next dawn brought the beginnings of fever with it, a reprimand for having transformed twice into a human to interrupt his previous heat. Despite Levi’s protests, Eren went about his routine, collecting kelp and seaweeds to adorn his nest, along with some fish. His stomach creaked and groaned, twisting and tying into knots of horrible sizes and none of them easy to untangle. He felt sick, sticky, dirty and hot. He felt so, so, so hot. His tail felt so, so, so hot. Everything was so hot; not even the cold water in the hollow of his cave helped relieve his temperature.

He felt so, so, so cold. His tail felt so, so, so cold. Everything was too cold; not even Levi’s large body could warm him.

He felt cold and hot. He felt tired but energetic. He wanted to  _do_ something, maybe go race a dolphin or have a boxing match with a giant squid, but he also wanted to just lie down and sleep. And even then, Eren couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned restlessly, fickle sleep visiting him in receding waves – his eyelids would almost droop before he was jerked awake again.

Levi tried with renewed energy to get Eren to stay in their cave and rest, but Eren couldn’t just lie down and do nothing; sighing, Levi contended himself with feeding Eren and rocking them both to sleep.

Eren’s pheromones were growing stronger, attracting the attention of mermen who were yet to find their amours. Levi’s bites turned wilder every day, a safety measure to ensure Eren didn’t end up in a perilous situation. Eren wasn’t the only one fighting with his muddled thoughts – his heat scent and pheromones severely affected Levi as well.

The merman returned quickly to their home to check on him. He groomed Eren and scent marked him and the cave, growling all the while. His bites stung and hurt, but again, they felt right to Eren. When they slept, Levi didn’t allow Eren to leave their embrace. His instincts emerged to the surface sometimes, grey eyes lit by a carnal desire every time he looked at Eren; it sent an army of goosebumps to attack his skin when Eren met those lust-lidded eyes.

Levi completely confined Eren to their cave two days before he went into full-blown heat. He stopped venturing out for lengthy durations, instead taking quick trips to the village to hoard more food supplies for them both. Eren curled up in a fetal position as his stomach cramps worsened and his tail hung immobile, fins weakly flapping and begging for the comfort of his mate.

When Levi’s chirp announced his return, Eren couldn’t remember any sound as sweeter; he threw himself into his mate’s arms, sobbing madly and hiccupping whilst Levi crooned to him.

Two days turned into one. Sweet lily dominated Levi’s salty scent and the merfolk avoided the part of the ocean where their cave lay. The entire village was waiting, waiting with bated breath to see what would happen on the inevitable day. Mating rituals between mers were harsh, demanding activities that consumed extortionate amounts of energy from both mates. If not done right, the consequences were of great grievance to both mates.

The pressure ultimately towered over the mermen, who had to be prepared for  _anything_. Mermaids grew alarmingly fragile during their mating heats and the slightest neglect led to disastrous outcomes, including death. Mating wasn’t all about fucking and producing pups. It was one of the greatest trials that mated life brought, testing their devotion and love towards each other. If a merman couldn’t care for his mate during their heats, then he was incompatible to be a mate in the first place.  

Levi’s scent and warmth never left Eren as they dozed in their nest, tightly pressed together.

“We’ll pull through this,” he murmured, wiping Eren’s sweaty forehead.

With a painful wheeze, Eren turned towards him. His tail no longer obeyed him. His temperature had sky-rocketed and he burned like a furnace. Sweaty, tired and dizzy, he clung to his mate and received a short kiss.

“We’ll pull through this,” Eren whispered back.

They talked no more and lay in the dark, listening to the ocean's waves softly sing to them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm almost done with my revision, so I decided to update early!  
> Thank you for your patience <3  
> Kudos, comments and questions are always appreciated!


	37. Heat

Eren’s tongue tasted like sandpaper. When he tried to move it in his mouth, it didn't budge. His gills were also rough and dry. Sighing, he flicked his tail to help him move so that he could reach the water and rehydrate himself.

Only his tail didn’t agree with the idea.

He forced his eyes open and let his other senses tell him what was going on.   
  
The air was heavy on his parched gills; the moss nest irritated his skin and his hair was wet with his perspiration. He groaned and twisted his back so that he could turn over, but a weight equal to a whale stuck to him; it took him a few seconds to work out it was Levi tightly glued to him. Eren coughed. The cave’s atmosphere wasn’t fresh; it was doused in a sickly sweetness that made his nose flinch. He sniffed a few times trying to identify the scent when his vision blurred.  
  
Arousal  _slammed_ into his mind, his hips bucking forward instinctively as his chest rumbled. Eren coughed again, his breathing decelerating fast. His body screamed for moisture, but his distorted mind had only word etched in it:

_Mate._

It was time… Eren couldn’t believe it. They were going to this. He was actually going to do this.

Wetness seeped over his tail and Eren shuddered at the irksome sensation. He needed Levi's attention, now.

Eren awkwardly flipped himself over like a fish out of water, his heavy tail slapping the dry cave floor. His forehead burned with the intensity of his heat, finally having arrived after the interruption during last time. Eren quickly thanked nature that he was safe and sound in the cave with his mate. He sniffed the air.

So  _sweet…_

“Levi,” he whispered. His throat felt like it had a puffer fish stuck inside. With a grunt, Eren shoved Levi’s arm and lifted himself to sit up straight. The scent of salty ocean was fogging his mind and sending invitations to his clit to open. His instincts were running in chaos as the scent overwhelmed him and his primal desires yelled at him to stop fucking around and get on with the task. He wanted Levi on him now.

“Levi,” he called hoarsely. His stomach was churning and twisting to prepare him. Eren winced when another horrid cramp took over, followed by a round of coughing. It was so humid in the cave. He gasped for fresh air and coughed when another gush of salty air swatted his nose. “Levi,” Eren wheezed, crawling over to him. He slapped Levi’s bicep and draped himself over the sleeping merman. “Levi  _wake up_ ,”

“Mm,” Levi sighed sleepily, his fins flapping. When Eren nudged his nose, Levi turned over and pushed Eren off him. He continued to sleep.

Eren whimpered as his tail flapped annoyingly. He crawled back to Levi and licked his cheek, gradually working his tongue over the skin until he reached Levi’s scent glands and inhaled. On normal conditions, they would have relieved him, but today they aggravated him further and he growled for his stupid mate to get up. He licked Levi’s glands agitatedly, begging for his mate to look after him. Levi only curled up tighter and frowned in his sleep. "Not now Eren,"

Another fucking cramp twisted his clit muscles and Eren fell back to the moss bed, sweating and coughing. He wanted fresh air or at least some water but neither came to aid him. With a heavy pant and a growl, Eren dragged his body forward. The task drained most of his strength for his sweaty skin plastered itself to the moss. Eren crawled to his mate again. _Merman. Mate. Mate!_

He put his head on Levi's hips and nudged him, licking the pale skin in hopes that it would wake the sleeping merman. Eren only stopped when perspiration coated his tongue and blew a raspberry to get rid of the taste. Smacking and licking his lips, he glowered at Levi, willing his mate to wake up. What was wrong with Levi?! Why was he sleeping so soundly whilst Eren squirmed in his heat? Eren prodded him with his claws impatiently, even pinching a bit of skin. It didn't work.

Eren inhaled and shifted, poising his mouth accurately on Levi's waist. If he had to play naughty, he would play naughty.

He struck, teeth sinking into the flesh with enough force to break the skin.

Eren squeaked when Levi abruptly threw him away with his inhuman strength and tumbled into the water with a loud splash. The cool water was a  _blessing_  to his overheated skin and his gills cried with joy as his body gladly took in the moisture. At the touch of water though, his glands opened up at once - they worked overdrive to release pheromones and his clit swelled and parted as slick dribbled out in rivulets. Eren panted in the water, tail twisting this way and that way in confusion as he searched for a surface to lay on; there was nothing but water around him. He needed to lie down!

“ _Levi~_ ” Eren whined as he scrambled out of the water.  _Mate. Merman. Touch. Bite._

The scent in the air had changed; along with his pheromones, a new scent accompanied his sweet lily. Feral and lustful, Eren sniffed eagerly, liking this new scent. It was spicy and exciting and made his hair stand up on edge. He wanted more of this spicy scent. Where was it coming from?

His clit itched to be filled and Eren flopped in the water clumsily, the stimulation proving too much for his marked body to handle. His instincts were a mess and he couldn't tell the difference between left and right - everything was so hot; he wanted Levi's cool body to hold him, he wanted Levi - his mate, where was  _he?_

Damn it, he couldn’t take this. He looked up to call again when his entire body froze like an icicle.

Levi, fully awake now, eyed him like a ravenous predator that had finally cornered its prey. The merman didn't move either, save for his tail that swished energetically. His pale chest rose and fell, the ragged breathing loud and clear for Eren to feast on. The spicy scent from earlier tickled his clit and Eren realized it was Levi's arousal. He chirped in approval.

Pleased that he had finally woken up, Eren mewed and tried to drag himself out of the water to get closer to his mate when Levi gave a small whine of his own, ordering the mermaid to stay still. Eren watched, pupils dilating wider and wider as the merman approached him by using his arms to drag him across the floor like a slug. It would have been funny if he had some brain cells left that hadn’t been consumed by his heat.

Levi’s claws closed around Eren’s upper arm and he dragged his mate upwards and into his chest. Cushioning his head on his front, Levi securely wrapped his arms around Eren. His chest rumbled as he let out an odd trill and lifted Eren’s chin delicately with a claw. He didn’t speak but his eyes posed the question.

_Are you ready?_

Eren nodded and shivered with newfound excitement.

Levi inhaled and pushed them into the water.

He didn’t waste time, attacking Eren at once. Fire coursed through his veins the moment Levi’s lips closed in on his. Eren thrashed wildly in the water as his tail tried to fight with his mate’s. Levi brought them back to the surface and his claws ran wild all over Eren, not bothering to hold back or be gentle. He exchanged lewd moans and gasps for Levi's claws and teeth that tore at his skin. Their tails roughly slid together, Levi's protective pouch swelling rapidly and prodding into Eren's clit. He sought purchase on Levi, needing to hold on to something and bite; but Levi was slippery and wet so Eren ended grabbing his hair instead. His claws drilled into the scalp, pulling on inky strands.

With another angry growl, Levi pinned him down on the cave floor so that their lower halves were still submerged under water. They kissed feverishly, saliva dribbling down on either side of Eren’s mouth as he opened it for his mate. Levi eagerly rushed in to meet Eren’s tongue where they swiveled and twisted around each other, testing their tastes. Pulling back with a loud and wet squelch, he was given some time to breathe before Levi started all over again, setting his teeth on skin. Mewl after mewl and moan after moan burst out from his swollen lips as Levi marked Eren anew, with passion so raw and unmatched in its bestiality that Eren cried for more. Levi sunk his canines into every inch of the flesh and gnawed on it – shoulders, collarbones, neck, stomach, waist, hips – nothing was spared as Levi littered him with red marks while Eren latched his teeth on Levi’s neck and furiously bit back, determined to mark him as well. The merman pierced the soft skin with loud growls and groans, holding the skin with his teeth and gnawing on it as if it were fish.

Eren cried as Levi’s teeth scraped over his glands, his most vulnerable part. He barred it completely, commanding his mate to take him. A second later, Levi punctured that as well and shivers began their assault on Eren when his mate presented him with a new mating mark. A whole new mark to show that he was Levi’s.

Claws tore the skin underneath and Eren lifted himself higher. Pushing Levi’s neck aside, Eren opened his mouth as wide as it allowed him to and took a great chunk of flesh near Levi’s glands into his mouth, biting and gnawing more so that he too could give Levi a mating mark. When satisfied, Levi turned him over to bite his arms and back. After every bite, he licked the wound with his tongue to ease the sting and continued in this fashion down Eren’s spleen and till the place where scales merged with flesh. 

When every single part of the tanned flesh was covered in red marks, Levi drew back panting heavily. Eren struggled to lift himself up as his body protested under the harsh marking. They burned his skin but he growled and flipped aside. Pulling Levi closer, which was easy because they were in the water, Eren marked his mate. Levi was more than willing to let Eren retaliate like this and soon enough, both mers panted in the water, completely covered in each other’s teeth marks. In addition to marks, Levi had left several rapidly darkening bruises on Eren as well. He crooned in approval at the sight.

A break. Levi drew him in by the waist, his instincts temporarily put on hold as he surveyed Eren with lust-laden eyes. He needed to know if Eren was still up to the task.

And Eren was not the type to back down. 

Levi's lips raced all over Eren while he shivered and happily moaned at the rowdy treatment. The merman took his time pleasuring him as he traced his lips everywhere, on every mark, on ever scratch, every sign that announced to the world whom Eren belonged to. Eren’s fingers found his mate’s shoulders and he squeezed the area to distract his hyperactive hands. Levi warbled lowly, nuzzling Eren’s stomach to encourage him to continue with his minstrels. Eren complied, elated that his mate was comfortable with him.

When Levi traced around the edge of his breasts, Eren shivered and his claws pricked into Levi’s skin. Levi stopped, concerned eyes wafting to him seeking for permission which Eren readily granted.

Eren trilled in pleasure unrivalled as Levi’s mouth closed around the bulge. His tail slapped the merman’s as Levi licked and bit his nipple, sucking in what Eren offered while his claws worked on his other breast.

Eren gnawed his lip harshly to stop the lewd noises he was making but at another teasing bite, Eren’s resolve faded and he squealed wantonly, massaging Levi’s head and coaxing him to do more. Their tails happily danced in the water and Levi occasionally flicked it upwards to send showers of water on their gills to stay hydrated while he sated himself. When he finally finished, his face was that of pure bliss, a trickle of white running down his chin.

Warmth whirled in Eren’s chest at a spot right next to his heart. It glowedy and pulsated - a second heart which sang as Levi pushed his tongue inside Eren’s mouth again. Eren let go of his mate’s hair to feel his chest, finding a similar heat beside his mate's heart. The heat escalated, a rising beam that proclaimed Levi's devotion and love to him. Eren responded, answering his mate's love with his own as he called Levi closer to take him, to fill him, to make him his. 

Uri’s words came back to him –  _taking into a cave despite being unmarked, feeding a bastard mermaid’s milk and…_

Eren bucked his hips as he hugged Levi’s neck, their chests rubbing together to form a cocoon of promises to be fulfilled as mates. Levi panted, releasing large puffs of breath as he gripped Eren’s hips. He nuzzled the side of Eren’s neck and collarbones, spreading his scent. Eren imitated him until both were coated thickly in their pheromones and stank of each other. Levi’s shoulders were completely sticky from the viscous sap that Eren’s glands secreted. It made it difficult for Eren to hold on to him and he struggled because he kept slipping in the water. He was tiring and they hadn’t even begun the actual process yet. They had done so little yet Eren already wanted out, to pause and rest for a while. 

Levi lifted him out of the water and set him properly on the cave floor, waiting until he had adjusted his position. Eren squirmed as he forced the butt of his tail to sit on the wet rock. Once he was comfortable, his tail plopped into the water with a small splash. He clicked his tongue, too tired to use words and Levi obeyed, climbing atop Eren whilst pinning the mermaid down to the rock. Levi climbed until his mouth was at level with Eren’s navel. Puffing his cheeks out and blowing air, he gently kissed his navel and the surrounding skin. Eren bucked his hips up again, almost slamming them into Levi’s nose. He quivered with every touch his mate bestowed on him, shaking as waves of ecstasy crashed on them both. When Levi’s tongue glazed over the delicate area where his skin began to merge with turquoise scales, Eren trilled again to never stop. And Levi didn't stop, tongue lapping and dancing over his belly as he continued south. There was a slight pause which gave Eren time to adjust.

Then Levi’s tongue lapped at his entrance.

Eren  _screamed_. His reaction spurred Levi who held him tight and ran his tongue all over the area around his swollen opening, licking and taking in the slick while Eren sang his delectation in high-pitched trills and mewls.  _Yes! Yes! Go on!_ he cried, singing and trilling to his beautiful mate - his strong, wonderful mate –

Levi inserted a claw into his hole, prodding him and twisting the insides to widen him up. The spicy scent of his arousal was saturated in the air, suffocating him in a blanket of need. He  _needed_  Levi.  _Inside._ This wasn’t  _enough._

The mermaid trilled harder, scolding his mate for teasing him so much. Lava swirled about in the pit of his stomach as Eren started jerking up and down desperately in need of friction. Finally getting the hint, Levi crawled atop Eren until their foreheads touched. Throats too tired to speak, they both settled for low warbles and whines to communicate. Levi nuzzled into his cheek, growling softly as he positioned their tails to press together.

_Hold on to me._

Eren obliged, wrapping his arms around the merman’s neck. He gave a soft chirp of his own to show he was fine and waiting. Levi took in his face and caressed his cheek before leaning in and pressing their lips together. At the same time, he pressed his tail to Eren’s. The mermaid could clearly identify the roughness and tightness around the little slit behind which a throbbing and hardened cock lay. Eren couldn’t make out what was happening to his own cock in this form but the thought was driven out of his mind when he felt Levi’s slit contract and his dick slip outside at once, slick already and stiff as a rock. He ground their hips together and Levi growled into his mouth. They carried on in this manner until Levi suddenly snarled and gripped his hips roughly.

With his cock sufficiently slicked with both of their bodies’ secretions, Levi lifted his hips and positioned himself accordingly to Eren’s clit. The tip gently grazed his opening. Eren tightened his hold, bracing himself –  

_"LEVI~"_

It was  _electrifying_. Levi slid inside him with ease and both let out twin moans. Levi didn’t move again and Eren mewed indignantly to let Levi know he could proceed. Holding onto his hips, Levi thrust inside and sank deep and deeper until his entire length was completely sheathed inside Eren. He growled more violently as he began to thrust, bucking Eren’s hips up and down as they both moved in rhythm, Levi to Eren’s moans of pleasure and Eren to Levi’s deep rumbles and low trills, stimulating them madly. He thrust and thrust, riding Eren and shoving his cock in deep with the most mellifluous trills and growls. And Eren warbled as well, his hands holding Levi tight, holding his precious mate tight as he was bestowed with one of the greatest gifts Levi could ever give him. 

Levi drove harder and harder, his thrusts growing more erratic and delirious. Eren choked and heaved, holding his mate’s neck for dear life as their tails continued with their dance in the water, sending waves splashing over them. At one final thrust, Eren’s vision burned white and his body boiled intensely; his clit swelled painfully as he prepared for release and came over his tail. Levi came as well a second later, filling Eren’s insides to the brim with his seed. He rode out the rest of his orgasm until his cock gradually deflated and pulled out of Eren.

Both mates gasped, searching for air to calm them down. Levi shuddered and coughed, his biceps trembling violently. It was hard to tell whether he was sweating or it was the ocean's beads that raced down his forehead and jawline. An ethereal beauty to Eren - Levi put his neck out and panted, the blue crystals of their cave illuminating his mating marks.

Eren swallowed, stomach heaving and already cramping as it processed Levi's gift. He whined, calling for Levi to fill in his clit again to replace the loss of him pulling out. But they couldn't proceed any more now – the first big task had been accomplished; now they had to restock on their energies and prepare themselves for the second round.

Eren had never felt such ardent fidelity to Levi before now as he watched his wonderful mate - tired, but still wonderful, crawl over to the little hole he had carved into the cave floor on one side filled with water. He pulled out ten salmons and crawled back to Eren, hair disheveled majestically and grey eyes sparkling with limitless fondness. He peeled off the fish and separated their flesh from bones - bless him - and placed a few chunks in his mouth, gnashing and chewing them to save Eren the effort. Then purring loudly, he joined their lips together to feed Eren in his favorite way.

Sleep.  _Sleep._  Eren had to sleep. He called for Levi again, asking for his warmth whilst he slept. He would eat later. He had to sleep first; his stomach cramped and Eren rolled aside to hide his open slit. Two fingers crept under his chin and he was rolled back to face Levi who fed him again. Eren whimpered, claws scratching Levi's chest to make him come closer. So Levi placed the fish aside, dropping them back into the hollow. He wasn't going anywhere. They could eat later.

Sleep summoned Eren and he succumbed to the temptation, knowing full well he was perfectly safe as Levi draped his tail over him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THAT IS THE END. Of round 1. The first step up the staircase. Whoo!!!  
> Time to eat!!! Thank you for reading <3!  
> Kudos, comments and questions are always appreciated :D


	38. Instincts

Out of the seven days that Eren’s heat lasted, the first three were the worst. The second day, in particular, was a brutal one for Eren; Levi’s instincts had reached their all-time peak.

With a sinister growl, Levi shoved Eren onto the hard rock. The viridian tail swished crazily to get away from him but Eren was hopelessly outmatched against the merman’s heavy build. Turning him over so that they faced each other, Levi pushed his head aside and struck his throat again – Eren groaned when his glands were pierced with deadly precision and imprinted with yet another mating mark. Levi’s saliva mixed with blood and pheromones as he continued to gnaw on the tender area that had barely healed from its last marking. Not knowing what else to do, Eren clung to Levi’s neck, choking out moans and whimpers that burned his throat. He couldn’t even speak.

Levi pushed his claws deeper into the mermaid’s waist to hold him in place and curb his thrashing. Eren retaliated with sinking his own claws into Levi’s neck, desperate for a break. He couldn’t hold on for much longer with the pace Levi had set; he needed rest, he needed time to heal – but another bite and all thoughts of sleep were driven from his mind as Eren screamed with the voice he had left. His claws scratched Levi’s back and tears streamed down his cheeks as the pressure of a throbbing cock forcefully pressed against his clit. Levi entered him without any trace of his earlier gentleness and thrust harshly; Eren almost lost his balance and went underwater as his hands slipped from around his mate’s neck. The sharp talons scratched his scales littered around his waist. His cries of pain and demand to stop were completely ignored.    

When Levi finally released him, Eren had already passed out.

Levi was vicious and insatiable; he marked and bit Eren for _hours_ , puncturing his shoulders and neck with his deadly canines and gnawing at the tender flesh. His claws tore the skin as he gripped Eren while mating and sometimes drew blood. Knowing full well how much pent up craving and agony was stored in Levi for not being able to find a mate sooner, his suppressed bestial instincts now broke the surface and savagely assaulted Eren. It took longer for Eren’s body to heal under Levi’s biting and scratching but Eren soaked it in. He knew Levi was struggling to reign in his instincts and was merely glad that Levi was finally able to vent. That wasn’t to say Eren remained completely silent over the treatment.

When he couldn’t bear the burning skin any longer, Eren lashed out with hisses and scratched him. He retreated from the water to go away and lie on the moss bed, turquoise tail swishing angrily while he glowered at his mate. Levi did attempt to come closer to continue with their ritual but Eren’s violent growls and thrashing tail warned the merman to keep his distance until he calmed down.

But Levi wasn’t completely brutal. When Eren shunned him for his roughness, he quietly waited in the water, tail sadly flapping and whining softly, begging for forgiveness. When he couldn’t bear to be separated any longer, he tried to come out of the water and crawled towards their moss nest, only to be pushed away by a furious Eren. Levi splashed water at him in hopes of cooling him. He stared at Eren with such sad eyes that Eren couldn’t stay mad at him; he ended up calling Levi back to his side and the merman eagerly scooted over, licking and kissing Eren’s wounds while apologizing profusely.

Eren wasn’t docile either; his instincts and thirst got the best of him and he too hurt Levi with his markings and biting, going as far as to chomp on his dick once when he was terribly prurient and carnal. Levi’s anger had made Eren run away and curl up in a corner of the cave, shaking with fear. When Eren misbehaved, Levi resorted to the silent treatment, not once acknowledging his whimpers. He couldn’t ignore Eren for long though; one look at Eren’s pleading eyes and small mews had him opening his arms to let his mermaid scoot over to him and cuddle with him.

Neither blamed the other; they were both wild creatures of nature, driven by primal instincts to court, claim, mark and mate.

* * *

Eren’s body accepted every new coating of seed Levi filled him with. Determined to keep marking and filling his mate, he rode Eren every chance he got, even if his body needed to rest. It was a vital act – the semen produced by merman provided the mermaid’s body with nutrition and strength during this period, and Eren needed all that he could get after Erwin’s mistreatment. So Levi tried to come as many times as possible to nourish his mate.

Their frequent bursts of mating released humongous amounts of their scent and that one week saw the cave’s atmosphere being completely sodden with lilies and salt air, mixed with the smell of sex and pheromones of arousal. Levi had to constantly drown himself and Eren in the water so that they could relieve their noses from the suffocating air. But then again, since he and Eren possessed absolutely no self-control, they fucked in the water as well, tainting the aqua with their scents.

They fucked erratically, driven by their hormones and instincts. Neither Eren nor Levi was able to find the strength to leave each other’s arms or their slits. Their lips were stitched together, only parting for eating or grooming. Once the first three days had passed, Levi found it easier to control his instincts and was no longer as lust-driven; so he resorted to gentle lovemaking for the rest of Eren’s heat, something that Eren wholeheartedly approved.

With their activities devouring all their energy and time, Levi was thankful for the excess fish and seaweeds that he had hoarded in the cave. Being the dominant mate, it was his duty to cater to the needs of his mermaid. So he mashed the fish with his teeth along with the bones and fed the slurry to Eren; the mermaid had never tasted fish bones before but ate everything that Levi fed him without complaints.

Despite his weariness, Eren too tried to feed Levi by tearing fish into small chunks clumsily with his little claws and pressing them to the merman’s mouth. Much to Levi’s amusement and fondness, Eren mashed the fish in his mouth and tried to give them to Levi the same way he was fed. Needless to say, he could only feed Levi about five times before conking out and snoring on the moss nest.

Even when his muscles and tail groaned with weariness and stung from the excess biting, Levi didn’t let himself sleep. He fed Eren until his mate could eat no more, marked him with his scent and endlessly groomed and cleaned the mess he created on Eren’s tail and stomach. Using the wide fins at the end of his tail for help, Levi tossed water at Eren to keep his mate’s body from overheating and to moisten it up a bit. He took special care to clean Eren’s gills to ensure the mermaid didn’t suffocate.

If Eren needed a bath, he was given one. If Eren was hungry, he was readily fed. If he wanted some simple affection, Levi was there, nuzzling and rubbing his face while purring gently to satisfy his mate. It didn’t matter how tired he felt; if Eren needed anything at all, Levi provided him with it. Their antics during the beginning of the week were instantly forgotten and forgiven and the rest of their mating ritual went without any hindrances. Levi found himself enjoying their confined time in the cave, watching as Eren – hyperactive as usual in spite of being thoroughly fucked thrice in a row – scampered about the water hollow and scooped up the water in his hands to throw it at Levi. Such outbursts of zest were short-lived however; Eren would quickly tire out and crawl back to their nest where he would be pulled and doted on until their next spell of lovemaking.

* * *

“Pretty,”

Eren tapped the shell in awe, holding it in different positions under the crystals. It was the shell Levi had found on the beach – the golden one with splashes of turquoise and blue. He had deposited it in a secret crevice in their cave, eager to present them as more courting gifts. Though their courting was now over, Levi still gave him the trinkets that he had collected during his journey for finding a mate – tortoise shells, oyster pearls, scales of bioluminescent fish, broken crystal shards – Eren wasn’t the type to say no and happily accepted them all, examining them whilst Levi cuddled him in their nest. Eren had done a beautiful job of weaving the kelp and weeds together to create a large nest that spanned across the entire cave floor. He had laced the nest with the softest of moss and algae he could find and the fuzzy texture felt satisfying on their skin.

“Where did you find it?” he closed his left eye when Levi licked him there.

“The shore… you were playing with the otters, remember?”

“Aw,” Eren hugged the shell. “You had four otters clinging on to you, remember?”

“Mm,” Levi turned him to lick his neck. Eren’s glands had healed sufficiently after the gruesome marking and while Levi still bit him there, it wasn’t severe enough to cause the initial amount of pain. Eren said it tickled him now.

“You’re a big old softie,” Eren told him again with the tenderest of smiles. Sighing heavily, Levi rolled them over so that he could lie atop his mate. No matter how many times he kissed Eren, it was never enough to convey how much he loved this sweet, caring mermaid that the ocean had chosen to bless him with of all mers.

“What should I give you?” Eren interrupted their kiss and placed the shell aside.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve given me all these courting gifts… shouldn’t I give something as well?” he asked unsurely. “Isn’t that how the merfolk do it?”

“Only mermen offer courting gifts,” Levi kissed his nose. “Mermaids are simply the judges,”

He smiled at Eren’s pout and carefully caressed the mating marks around the glands, pressing a kiss to each one. They had both taken off their seaweed necklaces and kept them aside in a safe corner of the cave; the harsh marking was bound to damage the scales and Levi didn’t want Eren to pluck a scale off his tail again.

“That’s not fair! I want to give you something too!”

"You can give me this,” Levi whispered and closed his mouth around the growing caramel breasts. With their mating having balanced Eren’s irregular hormones, his mermaid body was finally settling to normality. Maybe the cure to his body’s dysfunctions had been to mate with his kin all along.

“You don’t have to ask for – _ah!_ ”

Levi sucked, happily lapping up the warm liquid. Eren breathed gently, the rise and fall of his chest tickling Levi’s midriff. He combed the wet inky hair with soft hums that turned into sharp gasps when Levi playfully prodded a claw into the mermaid’s entrance.

“Levi – oh!”

Not letting go of his breast, Levi aligned himself properly so that his slit was right on top of Eren’s clit. The wanton moans and purrs Eren gave when Levi kneaded his chest spurred his cock to hurry up and stand firm. It slipped outside from the protective pouch, sufficiently slicked.

Eren squealed as Levi entered him for the billionth time (he had lost count) with a squelching sound. His mermaid was so _perfect_ – the heat that greeted Levi inside Eren coiled around him like how Levi coiled his tail around Eren when they slept. It was beautiful because this was Eren keeping him warm. He began to thrust and thrust, hands on Eren’s hips to hold him in place whilst his mermaid cried and keened for more. He thrust and thrust, sucking hard and drinking in the ocean’s nectar. It was what he loved the most about their mating – when he was inside Eren, nothing mattered but his beautiful mate, his beautiful warmth and his beautiful trills.

“ _Levi! Le~vi!”_

Levi wanted to answer the call, sing back to his mate but he merely suckled on, hips bucking forward as he thrust. A couple more heavy pants and Levi came in his mate, his ecstatic cry muffled by the milk. But Eren’s mellifluent cry echoed in the cave and made triangular ears flip back and forth in agreement. Levi pulled out and rolled aside, licking his lips. After sparing a few minutes to catch his breath, he was on top of Eren again, cleaning the excess semen that soiled the mermaid’s tail.

Eren was already asleep.      

* * *

Cuddling was Eren’s religion; he demanded gentle affection after every mating session and turned into a moody, angry pup when he was denied. Levi always drew him in after their post-orgasm bliss so that they could scent mark each other and soak in their warmth. He kept his tail wrapped around Eren at all times to ensure his mate didn’t catch a chill, knowing how delicate a mermaid became during their heats and first mating.

Grooming was a must. Eren tried to argue against it because their mating always left him on the verge of exhaustion but Levi was strict with him. The dried semen irritated both their skins and if neglected could cause infections around Eren’s clit. Making Eren sit on his tail, he thoroughly cleaned his mate and properly combed his hair with frequent teasing: his tongue would ‘accidentally’ brush over Eren’s clit or his nipple and Eren jerked awake with a loud squeak. He remained moody for the rest of the day while Levi peppered him in kisses and small bites.

His mate didn’t refrain from teasing either; Levi’s sleeping schedule lined up with Eren’s playing and ‘I need attention’ outbursts, so he constantly picked at Levi’s gills, tickled his fins, or poked a curious finger into his slit and stroked his limp cock. Levi would be awake in an instant as though stung by a jellyfish to find Eren grinning slyly and milking his cock. Needless to say, he pinned him down and shoved his dick inside him, thrusting and panting with his mermaid.

Eren didn’t shy away from helping Levi ease his frustrations. Whenever Levi was overstimulated, he gently pumped and squeezed his cock to bring him down from his high. Levi rode him relentlessly, panting harshly and growling intensely as he marked him. Later, Eren massaged and worked on his shoulders to erase the pain in Levi’s back, a result of arching it one too many times and fucking Eren in a position unfavorable to him. Eren sang to him in soft chirps and trills, crooning and purring as he licked and soothed the bites. He let Levi drink from his breasts till Levi could suckle no more and did his hardest to take care of Levi the same way Levi took care of him.

But being the passive kin in the midst of his heat, Eren’s energy reserves had their limits and he succumbed to exhaustion. And Levi couldn’t care less; every single time Eren made an effort despite having been fucked senseless and bitten harshly, fierce affection was what Levi rewarded his mate with.

Mermaids left their body and well-being in the care of their mermen during heats with barely any strength left to do much else. Yet Eren was still determined to not let Levi shoulder the burden alone, even if he could carry the burden for only a few hours.

Their pheromones and mating instincts clashed bitterly with sense and rationality. Sometimes, their instincts won and both ended up unintentionally causing the other discomfort. But they weren’t severe enough to sever their ties.

* * *

As they neared the end of the week, their instincts stammered as the effects of the mating cycle went down. Sudden sparks of lust and passion didn’t overwhelm them anymore. But since Eren’s heat hadn’t completely finished yet, Levi kept him inside their cave. Eren didn’t protest, his body and mind now busy prepping him for dealing with the after-effects.

Laying on Eren’s tail and looking up at his face, Levi’s ears swayed slowly as his mate’s melancholy warbles reverberated through the cave. Eren was busy running his fingers through the black locks, combing out the sweat and knots with slow motions. Levi whistled to get his attention. Eren stopped his trills, sleepily blinking at Levi.

He got up, with some help, and tugged Eren back into the shallow pond. Levi carefully lowered Eren in, making sure his fins didn’t get flattened by the rocks. Eren sighed as his upper half made contact with the cold water. The tides of the ocean rushed into the cave every day so there was no shortage of fresh and cool water to fill the little hollow that formed a makeshift pool. The tides also helped wash out the stench of the heat. When they were both immersed in the water, Levi began to examine Eren’s body properly.

Everything had been a blur of teeth and pheromones for the past few days and he hadn’t been able to have a good look at what damage he had dealt. He pursed his lips at the semi-healed bites. The blue and purple bruises had vanished, thankfully, but the marks of claim on his scent gland along with some puncture wounds on his shoulders were stubborn. Levi pressed his nose to the area, licking the wounds and coating them with his saliva to hasten the healing. Understanding what Levi was trying to do, Eren obediently let Levi groom him and hold him, only complaining when Levi squished his cheeks too hard for his amusement.

The cave was quiet for a while, save for small splashes of water as Levi searched for overlooked injuries or signs of rashes. Eren’s fins were intact, thankfully, and so was his tail. Levi checked his arms and glands but found no suspicious marks. The four slits that were his gills pulsed as they let the water in, so those were working properly as well.

“Are you feeling alright?” Levi asked, inspecting Eren’s clit for any swellings or the beginnings of an infection. The oval-shaped hole had shrunk now and was a small line amidst scales.

“Sleepy,”

“Then we sleep,” Levi prepared to get out of the water but Eren pulled him back.

“You?” Eren’s eyes were drooping but he shook his head. “I didn’t check you,” he mumbled.

“You don’t have to,” Levi assured him with a swift kiss to the cheek. “You’re the one who is at greater risk of getting ill; mermen rarely contract diseases,”   

The moment mermaids finished their mating heat, they headed into more dangerous territory; the aftermath of mating was the perfect time for horrible ailments to act on their severely weakened body. Mermen rarely fell ill but the mermaids were completely vulnerable during the post-heat period.

“No. I’ll check,” Eren insisted stubbornly and floated to Levi, his hand reaching for Levi’s glands. Before he could proceed though, Eren slumped forward and Levi caught him. The mermaid held him tightly.

“Eren?” Levi patted his back worryingly. Had he missed out on something?

The only reply he got from Eren was a snore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Step 2 up the staircase! Whoo!  
> Y'all know what's coming next ( ♥ 3 ♥)  
> Kudos, comments and questions are always appreciated! Thank you for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> I was like drunk at 1 AM in the morning having a tea party with my teddybear and banged my head on the table when I got this insane mermaid au idea in my head.  
> My tumblr is https://yourlocalcookiemonster.com/ (@yourlocalcookiemonster). You guys are more than welcome to send an anonymous message to me in case you don't know what to comment here :D


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